New Dreams
by Yuxume
Summary: It's been nine years since the group saved the world. Things have finally gotten back to normal... Yet, somethings have also changed. Not only has Serah and Snow settled down, but so has Lightning and Hope. How will these families cope with new lives?
1. Start of a New Day

This is my FIRST EVER fanfiction ever, so please go easy on me. I would, of course, love criticism, but don't be too harsh!

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><p>Sunlight crept over the carpeted floor of an apartment as the city began to awaken, it's golden shafts of light piercing the early morning gloom. It was a rather sizable apartment, well furnished, in a way that was modest, yet very modern and striking. A kitchen with a sink and cabinets that extended from the ceiling was in one corner, the handsome oak dinner table just over the counter. The living room was close by, with black couches and white lights that sat in bookshelves that were divided into blocks. Down a hallway, there were five doors. One led to a large bathroom, another to the office, and the others were bedrooms. And, in one, a couple slept.<p>

As the sounds of cars, people, and the general noises of civilization began to grow more and more distinct, one of the pair murmured and sat up, rubbing at her eyes. Her long, pink hair fell a little past her shoulder, and her blue eyes were still bleary from sleep. Twisting her hair, the woman through it over her left shoulder, so that it nestled between her shoulder and her lovely heart-shaped face; atop her tank top strap. This was the lovely Lightning Estheim. Her birth name was Claire, but she had always been called Lightning.

Taking a look at the clock and noting that it read 6:48 in the morning, she nodded in a satisfied manner. It wasn't yet time to wake her silver-haired husband, who still lay curled beneath the comforters. She had time for a bath. Quietly shifting herself out of the bed, Lightning was surprised when she felt a hand grab at her wrist. Looking down, she saw that the man next to her had rolled over and clutched at her arm. This was Hope Estheim. His white-hair shone in the early morning light and his wife smiled down at him, placing a hand on his face to brush away a strand over hair covering his eyes. She received further shock to find the bright green eyes open and looking at her, a sly smile crossing the male's lips. Light gave Hope a light and quick punch on the head, and he rolled up into a ball, giggling hysterically.

It had been nine years since the two, with their comrades Snow, Sazh, Vanille, and Fang, had saved Cocoon from destruction. Vanille and Fang were gone. It was a sad time for the group afterwards, but they knew Vanille and Fang had been glad and happy to do something to help. Snow was now married to Serah, Lightning's sister, and the two of them had a happy family, just like Snow had always wanted. Sazh and his son Dajh lived nearby, like everyone else in the group, and everyone got together often for parties and such.

Lightning and Hope, of course, had gotten married. They were now 30 and 23 respectively. The married couple both knew that many, though not their friends, looked upon their relationship with scorn and disapproval, but neither cared much. It was true that Hope was seven years younger than Light, but it didn't show much, and they loved each other anyways. Hope, over the years, had grown taller than Light, nearly outstripping Snow (but not quite.) He had lost most of his baby fat, except for a little in his face that gave him a healthy look, and his white hair, unbelievably natural, was still in the same style as nine years ago. His face had thinned, and his body was muscular.

"If you were up, you should've showed it earlier." Lightning gave Hope a stern look that didn't quite hide her smile completely.

"Sorry, Light," Hope replied in a teasing tone. "It was sort of hard to resist." He leaned over and kissed his wife before pushing himself out of bed and collecting his clothes for the day. Swiftly, he exited the room and the sound of the bathroom door closing could be heard. For a moment, Light wondered why he had been in such a rush to leave...

"HOPE! Hey, I was going to use the bathroom first!" More laughter bubbled out of the bathroom, and Light sighed as she fell back on the bed, hand across her forehead as the smile overcame her face once again. She was roused once again, though, by a young boy's call from the bedroom door.

Serah and Snow weren't the only ones who had had children, after all.


	2. Sibling Lurve

I KNOW, I KNOWWWW. "Vanille." It's cheesy, but don't you think it makes sense? -pleading puppy eyes- Plus the little Vanille's hair is white, so it makes sense to use "Vanilla."

I mean, they won't see their friends Vanille and Fang anymore, plus they saved everyone from that huge comet-meteor thing (wasn't exactly clear on what that thing was). So, don't you think it works? If you don't like it though, it gets worse later. You shall see...

AssasinZAssasin- Thank you so much for all your advice! I'll try to make it longer this time, I just couldn't find much else to say about just the two of them in the previous chapter.

FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud - Oh, I was sort of planning to have other stories that gave all the background info, instead of sticking it all in here. This one is supposed to be the one just about their new family.

Mr steve jr - Thank you so much! ^^

Thank you three so much for being my first 3 reviewers! Sorry about the length of the chapters, I promise it'll get longer as I get better at this.

Children were based off of semokan's (on deviantart) lovely work! I don't know how to put a working URL here, though. Soooo, the work is called: FF13-HxL-XX years later?

Please look semokan up! Her art is amazing!

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><p>In the doorway to the master bedroom stood a young boy of six years. His hair was almost exactly like Hope's, but it was parted on the opposite side, and an odd color. It was a sort of rusty, indescribable shade of his mother's hair color, which was darker than Lightning's strawberry blond, and nowhere near Hope's platinum blond, though he had his father's vivid green eyes. His pajamas consisted of a regular, blue T-shirt and black soccer shorts.<p>

"Aidan, what's wrong?" Light sat up and held out her arms to her son, who took the opportunity and sat down on her lap, rubbing his eyes slightly. "It's not even seven yet, and a weekend. You're up early."

"Mom, you and Dad are loud…" Aidan complained. "If Vanille wakes up this early, we're all gonna have problems..."

"Ah. Right." Vanille was their daughter, only five years old. Aidan often tried to act older than his age, but Vanille didn't care if she was immature, for now. She would cry if waken on a weekend.

"Here. I'll make you breakfast. What do you want?" Lightning picked up her son, who struggled a little, before letting her carry him to the kitchen and set him down in a chair. She would probably always try to do that to him. Aidan secretly liked the warm gesture from his mother, but always said it wasn't what a "man" should allow.

"Mmm... I want french toast." Aidan leaned forward and stretched out on the table top, watching his mother as she pulled various items from the pantry and refrigerator. "Mom, can I go to Brian's house later? We're gonna go to that new arcade that opened last week, downtown."

Pouring milk into a tall glass, she set it down in front of Aidan. "No, not today, did you forget? Today's your Aunt Serah's birthday." She smiled in amusement as Aidan hit his forehead with his palm.

"Oh, no! I totally forgot!" He leapt out of the chair and rushed off to call his friend, leaving the glass of milk behind on the table, it's contents sloshing back and forth.

"_Aidan! _Don't call them! It's too early for a boy your age to be up!" Lightning yelled after him, before turning back to the stove. She heard a small _whump_ and two simultaneous "Ow!"s, and knew that Hope had interfered.

Though, he had not so much as interfered, than walked out of the bathroom just as his son barreled into him. Both exclaimed in pain as Hope rubbed his side and Aidan stumbled back, clutching his forehead. Hope couldn't help but laugh as he kneeled down, placing a hand on Aidan's head. "Sorry, you okay?"

"Owww! Dad! What're you doing?" Aidan rubbed the red spot on his head and was about to go on when a small whimper came from the doorway further on ahead.

Vanille Estheim stood there, clutching her bunny doll from Nautilus to her, which had been given to her on her fourth birthday. Her silver locks fell past her shoulder, in two long pieces of hair that curled near the ends. It was just like Lightning's hair, but one on both sides. There was one piece of hair, however, that stuck up on top of Vanille's hair. No matter what they did, it would not lie flat, so the girl had grudgingly grown to accept it.

Pouting, she tottered sleepily over to her brother and glared at him with bright blue eyes before proceeding to try to bop him on the head, though he was a head taller than her. "Onii-chan, you're loud! It's only 7:05! Why are you up? You're loud! Meany! Bully! _Nuisance!_"

"Ughh, shut _up_, Vanille! You don't even know what a nuisance is!" Aidan yelled, holding Vanille back by her head. Both sprung apart and quickly quieted as Lightning towered over them, holding a spatula in a very menacing fashion.

"I don't want you two yelling at each other! And Aidan, don't tell your little sister to shut up! Vanille, don't hit your older brother! Now behave, and _go eat breakfast_!" She brought the spatula down with a _whoosh_ to point at a steaming plate of french toast on the table.

The kids quickly scuttled off, and Lightning closed her eyes and tilted her head back, sighing. Putting her hands on her hips, she opened them again and turned to Hope. "You could step in, too, you- Hope?"

Her husband had been quite intimidated, as well, it seemed. He had run off with his children, and was now munching on his french toast quietly, all three subdued.

Lightning sighed again, putting two fingers to her temple, before turning and entering the bathroom, locking the door. In the spacious room, though, she could hear giggles on the other side of the door. Smiling, she began to get ready. They were having a big party tonight for Serah, after all.


	3. Cousins, Chaos, and Chocobos

QTXAdsy: -flails- Ahhh, I was so close to dropping you a PM about that, because it was quite ironic for you to mention Nora. But I restrained myself until this chapter!

AssasinZAssasin- Haha, your advice is taken to heart! Thanks for taking the time. ^^

FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud- Hehehe... H-Hehe, yeah... I didn't really want to make their kids suuuuper young, because I would be even worse at describing their actions and such. Anyways, DON'T WORRY! It wasn't underaged sex! It just sort of happened. :P If... that's believable.

Revan Farron- Mmhm. I based them off a drawing, and then tweaked them a bit.

Mr Steve Jr- Thank you so much! ^^

Feel free to check out a new story I wrote called "Forgiveness." I separated it, since I felt that the stuffed animal girl needed her own story. It also gives backstory to Vanille's toy.

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><p>Five hours later, the Estheims were preparing for the party they were holding that night for Serah's 27th birthday. Lightning sat barefoot on the couch, her legs out in front of her. Vanille sat in between her mother's legs, pointing at the wooden arch that people passed under to enter the main part of the house after taking off their shoes in a sort of porch area. Hope stood with ornamental orbs on a string, measuring the string's length according to Vanille's judgements. Aidan sat nearby on a large Ottoman, stringing together paper chains, his feet surrounded by a huge mass of paper loops.<p>

"No, no, Daddy! I think we should make them arches! So, _that_ blue ball would be shorter than the red one!" Vanille pointed wildly, bouncing up and down as she gestured. A hand on her head attempted to still her.

"Vanille, sit still! I'm trying to do your hair." Lightning said in a muffled tone through the two hair bands she was holding between her lips. Grabbing at the girl's pieces of hair, she pulled them back and held them at the base, near Vanille's head. Taking one band from her mouth, she tied it up, so it looked like a high ponytail. Next, she twisted the two pieces of hair into a braid and tied that at the end. Finally, Light took two pieces of sapphire colored ribbon from behind her, and tied them both into ribbons on her hair; one at the top of the braid, and one at the bottom of it.

"How's that?" She asked, placing a mirror in her daughter's hands. Vanille turned her head this way and that, her mouth opened in an o-shape as she scrutinized the hairstyle. Finally, she tilted her head backwards to give her mom an upside down look. "Mommy, you said that you had two hairstyles you would show me today. What's the other one?"

"Girls are so concerned about their hair!" Aidan observed as Lightning took the hairstyle apart. "It looks fine just down to me. Dad! Look, is this long enough?" He proudly held up a long, colorful chain of paper loops, and Hope placed the finishing touch on the orb arches before bending over to take a look.

"Yep! Here, now we can set it up! Okay, one, two, three... Hup!" Hope picked Aidan up by the armpits and held him up to tape one side of the chain to a corner of the ceiling.

"Ow, ow, ow! That kind of hurts, Dad!" Aidan complained, though he managed to stick the first loop to the designated spot. Hope apologized and set the boy on his shoulders.

"Boys are just jealous that they can't look as pretty as girls!" Vanille turned her head away, pouting, before it was turned back to it's original spot by her mother.

"_Vanille. _Didn't you _want _me to do your hair? Now, how's that?" Now, Vanille's white hair had been collected into one long piece and thrown over her left shoulder, just like Lightning's hair. A ribbon had also been fixed at the base of her neck, so that Vanille's hair remained in the over-the-shoulder style, with a little bit of flourish added.

"Oooh... I like this one, too... Mommy, can't I just tell you tonight, when we're getting ready for the party?" Vanille pleaded, turning around and lying back against her mother, who nodded and took the ribbons out, fluffing the hair up. "Why don't you go get the table set for lunch? We should eat soon, since breakfast was five hours ago."

As the girl ran off to the kitchen to grab utensils and plates, Lightning's cell phone rang and she picked it up, holding it to her ear. "...Hello?"

"Sis! I'm bringing the kids over now, okay?"

"...Snow. Wasn't this supposed to be a _surprise_ party? Don't you think it'd be a little... _obvious?_" Lightning's eyebrow raised, absentmindedly watching as Hope and Aidan finished taping another corner.

"What? _Nah, _it'll be _fine, _sis! Serah's out shopping. You know her, once she's out there, she's out there! She'll never guess."

"...Let's hope so. We're about to eat lunch. Are you guys hungry? Vanille's setting up the table right now."

"Nah, we just ate. We're almost here. Kids can't wait. See you!" A small _click_ in her ear notified Light that her brother-in-law had hung up on her. She sighed, putting the phone onto a side table. Nine years ago, she had refused to let Snow call her "sis." But now that Serah and Snow were actually married, what else could she do about it?

"Hope. Snow's almost here. Vanille, are you done?" She called, stepping over paper scraps all over the floor and heading towards the kitchen, Hope and Aidan close behind.

"Are we eating leftovers again?" Aidan asked, pulling open the refrigerator and looking in. Lightning leaned against the kitchen counter and Hope put his chin on top of her head. "What's wrong with leftovers? You seemed to like last night's roasted chicken."

"Well, _yeah,_ but things taste better hot and freshly cooked, don't they? I'll get it!" Aidan ran towards the shoe area as the doorbell rang. Vanille put down the plate she was holding and rushed after her brother, Hope and Light following together.

"He~y!" They heard Snow's loud booming voice ring out, and the other voices that chimed out, "Hiii~!" Two girls, one boy, and Snow carrying a baby girl piled it. The room was suddenly filled. _Yep. One biiig happy family, just as he used to say, _Hope thought, smiling to himself.

Serah and Snow had agreed though, that Abby, for that was the baby girl's name, would be the last one, much to Lightning's approval. She had disliked the fact that Serah had married at such a young age, anyways. Though, she probably shouldn't talk, since she and Hope became rather unintended parents when Hope was seventeen.

The Villiers family's oldest child was Nora Villiers, a calm seven year old who was a few centimeters taller than Aidan. Nora's hair was similar to the color of Snow's, but the light color of Serah's hair had kicked in and made it a very pale version of her father's hair. She wore it at shoulder-length, in honor of the woman she had been named after. Even so, she _did _have Serah's genes, and her hair curled slightly at the ends. Her green eyes looked out of a heart-shaped face.

Indeed, she was named after Nora Estheim, Hope's mother. One would think that Hope would name _his_ child after his mother, but Hope, who had despised Snow so much in the beginning of their journey, had grown to love him as his friend and, indeed, older brother. And so, both Hope and Bartholomew had given Serah and Snow permission to name their first child Nora, as one last apology to the mother who had sacrificed her life to protect her son, and died in the process.

It was pretty fitting anyways, since Snow's group was called NORA. They had "disbanded," but only as the name NORA. They still saw each other quite frequently. In fact, the other members would be present at Serah's party later that night.

Nora was the oldest, yet the boy of the family was her twin, only a few minutes younger than her. Ethan Villiers was about the same height as his twin sister, and looked a lot like her, though his face wasn't as feminine as hers. His light blond hair stuck up in spikes, and his green eyes already showed signs of mischief. It was clear he would grow to be much like his father.

The second youngest girl, Snow's hand on her shoulder, stood on the threshold, smiling quietly. Her hair was a flaming red that fell all the way down to her elbows. Like Snow's hair, it was straight. It's fiery tint complimented her rather pale skin and contrasted nicely with her blue eyes, inherited from Serah. When she had been born, and had begun showing the traces of red hair, Lightning and Serah had looked at her and said at the same time, "Like Mom's, right?"

This was Fang, five years old. Snow and Serah had named her after their friend Oerba Yun Fang, who, with Vanille's namesake, Oerba Dia Vanille, had sacrificed herself to protect their land and friends.

Though Vanille Estheim was actually similar to the other Vanille in personality, Fang Villiers was quite unlike Oerba Yun Fang. She was very shy, for one, and second of all, she was physically quite weak.

And then there was baby Abby. At age two, there wasn't much of the tiny little girl. She had pink hair tied in a ponytail the exact shade of her mother's, and had light blue eyes. Even though she was small, Abby had already shown she would be like a less rowdy Ethan.

The instant the family was out the door and the proper greetings had been made, Ethan and Aidan raced off to Aidan's room to play. "Aidan, get back here and eat your lunch!" Lightning yelled, but Hope wrapped his arm around her waist. "C'mon, Light, just let them play a little. In an hour, we can call them back." The woman rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else.

She did, though, force her daughter to go eat. This was done with mild complaining, but a look from her mother made Vanille head towards the table, Nora and Fang following.

Lightning, Hope, and Snow sat on the couch, making some small talk and blowing up some balloons while the girls finished eating and the boys shouted from Aidan's room. "When's Sazh coming?" Snow asked, tossing a red, luminous balloon over the side of the couch. "And do you guys have helium? Let's make some of these babies float!"

Hope gestured towards the door. "It's out there, in the hall outside. Look in a metal cabinet that has a bunch of tools in it."

Snow gave his thanks and stood, making his way through the sea of colors to the door. Opening it, he raised his foot to take a step forward, and was suddenly knocked flat on his back by a large feathered head.

"_Kweeeeh!"_ The chocobo gave a cry of frustration as he tried to squeeze through the door, but found himself too broad to do so. Snow propped himself on one elbow, rubbing his head. "C-Chok..."

Chok the chocobo wrestled desperately against the door, but calmed when all the kids crowded about it, yelling happily.

"_Chok!"_

_"It's the frocobo!"_

The chocobo was having fun being the center of attention while Hope and Lightning hurried over, Hope helping Snow up. A voice called from behind Chok, apologetic and sincere. "Oh, no! Chok, come back! I'm sorry, Mrs. Estheim!" A large bunch of brown, wild hair was seen first as fifteen-year-old Dajh Katzroy clambered up onto Chok's back. The boy was tall and strong, his afro still one of the most prominent things about him. He was cheerful and bright, always quick to smile. The children loved him, though Vanille and Fang had been rather frightened of his afro the first time they had met.

Lightning sighed, leaning against the wall. "Dajh, I've told you before I don't like having chocobos in my house... Where in the world's your dad?"

"I'm right here! Right here! Whoa, Chok, slow down! Come outta there! Sorry, Light... Chok! I've told you a million times, folks don't appreciate birds runnin' around their house..." Chok turned around and his head disappeared momentarily from view. The noises indicated he was poking someone from behind the door.

"Ow! Don't mess with ol' Sazh, now!" Chok gave a mournful sigh, before standing and backing out of the door. Sazh Katzroy, fourty-nine by now, entered the apartment, blowing his cheeks out as he exhaled. "Whew! I'm too old for this kind of stuff. Why you gotta live on the 6th floor?"

Light raised an eyebrow. "You were on the run from the entire Cocoon army and cavalry when you were branded as a l'Cie, and fought against Orphan. And you can't climb... six floors. How did Chok get up here, then?"

Sazh threw his hands up in resignation, before letting them fall. "He stole the elevator! Me and Dajh were about to get in, and he just ran in!" The children giggled and crowded around him. "Whoa, hey there, kids. You guys are all growing bigger everytime I see you."

Dajh came in behind him, greeted by the cheers of the kids, who all loved him. "Daddy," He directed at Sazh, who he still called "Daddy," even at the age of fifteen, "Chok really wants to come in. C'mon. Please, Mrs. and Mr. Estheim?"

Hope laughed. "_I'm _okay with it. You just gotta convince _Light!_"

The kids immediately turned and surrounded Lightning like a herd of sheep, yelling ,"_Please,_ Auntie?" and "Mommy, c'mon!"

Lightning sighed. "And how exactly are you gonna fit that bird through the door?" Everyone turned to look at the door, which was shoved wide open by a large, three-toed foot, to show the full size of Chok. He had grown into a full-fledged chocobo, and was just as big as any of the rest of his kind.

The large bird examined the door for a moment, before flopping over onto his side and making himself as small as he could, folding his head and neck into his feathers, and clamping his wings tightly to his sides. Using his feet, he grabbed a hold of the door and slowly pulled himself in. It was a long, slow process that involved him banging his head twice and letting out a _"Kweh!" _of pain.

Finally, though, the bird stood triumphantly in the entryway, shaking out his feathers and stretching happily. Everyone cheered and even Lightning gave a small amused smile. She glanced casually at the clock, before double-taking and staring at the device. "Everyone, it's 3:30! We still have a bunch to do, and we only have two hours left!" Everyone quickly poured out of the small area, and set to work hurriedly, Chok sitting down contentedly to preen his feathers.

Lightning stood, the tips of her left hand fingers pressed to her temple, her right hand on her hip. _I've gotta call that restaurant we're going to, make sure the flowers and cake are already there, make sure that, when Serah gets here, everything here is neat and orderly and the guests have all arrived... _One by one, she thought of more things she had to do, and threw up her hands in exasperation. "Hope! Can you call the restaurant and check that everything's okay? Sazh, there's a list of guests on the counter top, could you get that to me? Dajh, I need you to make sure the kids don't break anything, and that they get changed! Kids, make sure you follow Dajh, okay?" Lightning stalked off, barking orders, just like the soldier she was.

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><p>There <em>is<em> a reason why I named the chocobo Chok. Any guesses?

As always, I'll be really happy if you leave some advice. ^^ I'm still a newbie, after all.

Edit: Oh, geez... So it's been brought to my attention by FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud (thank you ^^) that I had a crapload of typos in here. Hopefully I've fixed them all, but let me now if there's anything else.

Thanks for reading!


	4. All Dressed Up With Somewhere to Go

**Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Exams are coming up in the final weeks of school, and I need to study! Also, New Dreams won't be updated for a little bit. I'm planning on writing some background, on how Hope confessed, their marriage, etc. I wanted to do a FFIX fanfiction, too. So, yeah. Sorry! :( Please continue to support me. ^^**

**Geez. I had a lot of typos at first, in the previous chapter.**

FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud: Thank you for the corrections! I fixed them. Sorry I haven't been updating lately. Exams are stressful. I'll be able to update more often in the summer, though. ^^

QTXAdsy: Oh, hey, that's a great name! ^^ Too bad I've already got all the names down... Thanks for reading!

AssasinZAssasin: Oh, you see, according to the Final Fantasy Wiki, one of the fabric pieces on Dajh's clothes when he was six read "Chok" in Cocoon script. So I decided to just use that. :P It's hard to make them longer, but I'll try! This one's shorter than the previous one. I really appreciate your continuous input.

xXAnime4LifeXx: Ah, thank you! HopexLight is great, no?

Mr steve jr: I explained Chok's name above in my response to AssasinZAssasin. Thank you for reading.

**_Yep!_ Basically, thanks to everyone. :)**

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><p>The two hours that had been left flew by quickly. Somehow, the group had managed to get everything done. Dajh had hurried the boys into Aidan's room to change into their formal clothes, Hope and Snow prepared in the master bedroom, and Lightning ushered the girls into the bathroom. Sazh remained outside for the time being, for Chok got lonely very easily, especially when he <em>knew<em> the people were there, just somewhere else.

Hope and Snow finished first, and walked out of the room, both wearing black tuxedos, red ties, and white shirts. Snow had actually taken off his bandana for the occasion, a rare sight. It was mostly just straight and flat, aside from a piece of hair that rose a bit higher than the rest of his light blond hair.

"Sazh, it's your turn. Hurry and get changed, we'll stay with Chok." Hope indicated the open bedroom door.

"Yeah, okay. I don't really fancy the coat and tie look, though..." Sazh grunted as he heaved himself up from where he had been sitting next to Chok.

"Daddy, you should've learned by now. You've worn it for Snow and Serah's wedding, Hope and Lightning's wedding... When _I _get married, you'll really have to tolerate it!" Dajh joked as he, Aidan, and Ethan emerged from Aidan's bedroom. All were dressed appropriately. Dajh, like Snow and Hope, wore a tuxedo and tie, but the two young boys had on collared shirts with vests on them. Ethan wriggled a little, and Aidan wore a look of mild resentment. It was clear neither of them took to being forced into formal attire kindly.

"Hey, everyone looks great. Don't even think about _that, _Dajh. It isn't gonna happen anytime soon. Not on my watch, anyways!" Sazh picked up a bag which contained his suit, and walked into the master bedroom, locking the door behind him.

The girls took, by far, the longest time to be prepared. Sazh had changed, come out of the master bedroom, and the guys had started a round of Wii Boxing before they were all ready. The results, though, were indeed worth the wait.

Vanille came out first, holding Fang's hand and leading the shy girl out of the bathroom. Vanille had decided on a hairstyle Lightning had been showing her. Her white locks were flared out to the sides, making her look more mature. She wore a sky blue, sleeveless dress with a belt and butterfly buckle around her waist, and white sandals.

Fang had her hair in a side bun, had black shoes, and wore a ruby colored dress that flared near the bottom. Clearly embarrassed, Fang kept her head down, face flushed. Vanille was giggling, in a kind way, and Nora came out behind them, continuously reminded her younger sister that she looked great.

Nora's blond hair was short, so she couldn't really twist it up into elaborate buns. She still looked quite nice, though. Lightning had helped wash, braid, and then flat iron her hair, so that it came out wavy. Her feet were clad in white shoes and she wore a light green dress, tied in the back with a ribbon.

Little Abby toddled unsteadily out, staring carefully at the ground before placing her feet, dressed in pink shoes, firmly on the floor. She would stare at her foot for awhile, before making the next step. So concentrated was she on her baby steps, she didn't notice Lightning bending over to fix some buttons on the back of her pink dress.

Hope couldn't help but gape as his wife stood and turned her head to look at him. Her face turned a shade of pink so light it was hard to tell if it was there or not, and she looked away, muttering, "What are _you_ looking at...?" Light wore a red cocktail dress and black shoes. Instead of keeping her hair in it's custom position of lying across her left shoulder, she had combed and fluffed it out, letting it settle on her back. The effect was quite stunning, as Lightning wasn't one for much change.

"_Yeah! _My family's the greatest!" Snow stood proudly, looking at the group. A look from Lightning made him raise his eyebrows. "I said _'family,' _Sis. That means everyone."

Most of the guests began to arrive at around 5:15, most of them already dressed. Those who had brought their clothes with them scurried off to the bathroom to change. As more poured in, most rather shocked by the large yellow bird sitting in the foyer, Hope expressed his worries that they wouldn't be able to fit everyone in their apartment.

"Well... The main party is at the restaurant, not here, and not all the guests will be able to come to the after party, so there should be less later." Lightning mused, as she leaned on her husband's shoulder, who was standing against the wall, occasionally greeting a few people.

The man agreed, though his doubts still showed. A sudden escalation in noise near the front door prompted him to note casually, "The NORA gang's here."

"Mmhm... General Amodar!" Light straightened suddenly, and saluted a man that walked towards them. Amodar had been Lightning's superior, but Light had left the army to care for her children. Hope, instead, had taken her place as a soldier of the Guardian Corps. Even so, Light often went with him to work when she could. It was hard to stay away from something you had dedicated yourself to the first 24 years of your life. During the nine years, Amodar had been promoted from Lieutenant to General.

"Please, Lightning, you have no need of that. Nor you, Hope." Amodar chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "Taking a break for your sister's birthday! Just like nine years ago. And when is the birthday girl arriving?"

"She should be here soon." Lightning answered, just as the phone rang. The whole apartment quieted and watched as the strawberry blonde-haired woman picked up the receiver. "Hello...?"

"Oh, Sis! Did Snow tell you that he was taking the kids over to your place? I was shopping, so it sort of slipped my mind. I'm almost there, anyways!"

"Okay. Hurry over. We'll eat dinner together. You've got the key, right?" Lightning said into the phone, as calmly as she could.

"Yep! See you then!" Once she heard the click on the other end, Lightning quickly jammed the receiver back into it's charger and turned to yell out something that caused everyone to scurry:

"_Serah's almost here, everyone!_"

People ran to the shoe area, Dajh sitting atop Chok, with a few other kids, and people squeezing in around him. Lightning, Hope, Sazh, and Snow stood at the front of the group, kneeling on the floor so the others could be seen.

After a couple of hushed minutes, footsteps could be heard outside the door. A key was shoved into the lock and turned with a clicking sound that seemed to echo loudly in the room. The door was pushed open and Serah stood in the doorway. Everyone leaped up, screaming both _"Happy birthday!" _and_ "Surprise!" _at the same time, making the crowd's speech generally incoherent.

The birthday girl was now twenty-seven years old. She had become a teacher, as she had decided nine years ago. At the moment, she wore a red turtleneck and a white skirt, her hair, curled at the ends, hanging down and out of the custom ponytail she used to constantly wear.

Serah's hands leapt to her mouth and her expression was one of delight, a shopping bag dangling from the crook of her elbow. "Oh, all of you guys... Thank you so much! This is amazing!"

Everyone tried to speak to Serah all at once, flooding the laughing girl with questions and congratulations. Finally, Lightning rolled her eyes and stepped into the throng, clapping her hands. "_Hey! Everyone!_" The noise died out and everyone's eyes turned to Serah's older sister. "It's time to head to the restaurant! Our reservation time is coming up!"

Upon hearing this, people murmured and began to file out of the apartment to their cars, leaving behind only the Estheims and Villiers. Light watched the last person go, frowning slightly. "Serah..." She turned to her younger sister. "You weren't completely surprised, were you? That bag has your dress, doesn't it?"

"Oh, no, I _was_ surprised. There were so many people! But..." Serah looked at Snow. "Honey, you weren't very subtle about it."

"Wh-What? I thought you had absolute no... Ow!" Lightning had smacked Snow on the top of his head.

"Typical," She and Serah said at the same time. They looked at each other and Light smiled, Serah giggling as she hugged her husband.

"_Mommy! Happy birthday!_" Serah's children grouped around her. Abby cooed, running towards her mother and falling. Pouting, the baby sat up and frowned at the floor.

Serah giggled and plucked up her youngest child, cuddling her while resting her hand on Ethan's head. "All of you look great! Did Daddy help you pick these out? Oh! Speaking of which, I have to go change! Everyone, go ahead, I have my own car, anyways. I'll see you at the restaurant!"

Lightning nodded, taking Hope and Aidan's hands. Vanille took a hold of her father's hand, and the family started out, the Villier's lingering behind. Snow stopped at the doorway. "We're going to wait for Serah, 'kay, Sis? Hope?"

The Estheims nodded, and continued out of the apartment.

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><p><strong>Meeeh, the ending was awkward. But, I sort of rushed it. It's like... two in the morning. :P Good night~<strong>


	5. Feeling Feverish

**Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for reading! By the way, after this, I'm going to take suggestions on what I should write about in this story, and in general! For example, if you want to see what an Estheim, Farron, and Katzroy picnic would turn out to be like, just say so in the reviews, and I'll make a chapter on it. ^^**

**I'm also in the process of making a story about how Light and Hope got together, since a few people showed interest in my version of it. ^^ Check it out! (Inner Conflicts)**

FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud- Sorry! But, it's really a nothing-I-can-do-about-it sort of situation. It's still in the middle of exams, and I'm not planning on having my grades slip. The good news is that I'm almost done, and summer break is almost here! There will be plenty more posts then, I assure you.

AssasinZAssasin- I'm so glad you're a continuous reviewer. ^^

xXAnime4LifeXx- Hug scene, perhaps? :D I loved that part. Of course! I try to reply to all my reviews.

l3itterness- You favorited my story? -Huggg- Thanks so much. ^^ I'm almost done with those exams!

K11Lou- Personally, I _love_ cheese. :D Anyways, it made sense to me. If you're gonna name your kids after your aunts and uncles, why not name 'em after your comrades that you went through a life-changing journey with? ;D

Mr steve jr- Probably stay light. There might be a few not-so-happy chapters, though. Hope you don't mind!

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><p>There was only one word to describe the party that filled the restaurant. <em>Loud.<em>

It was a good sort of loud, Hope thought. It was the loud that was full of laughter, jokes, and people who cared for one another having a good time. The children were enjoying themselves, running around with the other kids of all ages. Women stood in groups, chatting, gossiping, and generally having a good time. The men joked around with each other, talking about jobs and whatnot.

Lightning, though, clearly thought otherwise. "Naturally," She spoke through gritted teeth, "Snow would invite the_ entire_ city."

"But, Light, it's just all of our friends combined. And everyone seems to be having fun. Look how happy Serah is." Hope pointed out the birthday woman, standing in the center of a throng of people, Abby in her arms and Snow at her side.

Serah practically glowed. Her hair fell in perfection to her shoulder blades, and she wore a dress that matched Lightning's. Whether the match was intentional or not, the two sisters had looked great together when pictures had been taken earlier, despite the fact that Light's smile was very small, and rather serious looking while Serah positively beamed.

At the moment, however, Light didn't feel like being at the center of attention. Hope had found her a few minutes ago sitting in a chair in a corner of the restaurant, eyes closed as her head tilted back to rest against the wall. Hope had carefully sat down in a chair next to her and reached over to push her head down onto his left shoulder. Her eyes had flashed open, a moment of confusion breaking over her before she remembered where she was. "Hope... Sorry. I'm just tired."

"You've been working hard on this party, haven't you?"

"Well, it _was_ for Serah." The reason they had thrown such a massive and special party was because of Serah's job. She was a schoolteacher, for fifth graders. She also worked with other grades on extracurricular activities, and did her best to try to achieve her goal, one she had decided on nine years ago, giving lectures and speeches on top of her job. _"When I'm teaching them, I need to be able to tell them... why Cocoon fell, what exactly happened..." _She had said to Snow.

Her efforts hadn't been in vain, and she had received an award commemorating her work about two weeks ago. Combining her achievements with her birthday, they had made the party as large and festive as possible.

Indeed, the party was a success, and everyone was having a good time. Except Lightning. Her head was back onto Hope's shoulder, but her expression was one of mild pain. "Light? Light, what's wrong?"

"Nothing... I'm just tired..."

"Don't lie. Are you sick?" Hope placed his hand on her forehead. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Mm... I don't want to leave Serah's party early. And all the preparations are finished... back at home..."

"Light, it's okay... Serah wouldn't want you to get sick just for her. I'm going to take you home. Now." He moved Lightning to lean back against the wall, and she was too weak to protest.

Hope stood on the edge of the crowd, waving his hand in the air to get Snow's attention. It took a little while, but Snow finally saw him and excused himself, making his way through the people. "Yo, little brother. What's up? Why so serious?"

"Light's sick, so I'm gonna take her home now, okay?"

"What, seriously? Man, I better tell-"

"Don't even think about telling Serah!" Light suddenly appeared behind Hope, panting. Both men jumped, and Hope whirled around. "Light, what are you _doing?_ You shouldn't-"

"Snow, you tell Serah, once I get enough energy, I'll bash your face in! Today's her special day and I _won't_ have you, or myself, for that matter, screwing it up!"

"But, Sis... She'll feel terrible when she finds out!"

"Well, then, we'll save it for after the party. I..." She nearly keeled over before Hope caught her, holding her by the shoulders. "Snow, I'm taking her back now."

The blond haired man nodded, clearly torn between informing his wife and saving his face from Lightning. He was finally pushed towards a decision by Hope, who tilted his head, eyebrows raised and a slight smile on his face. "Please?" The silver-haired male asked.

"Alright, _alright,_ I won't tell her..." Snow grumbled. "Hurry up and take her home. The faster she gets some rest, the better."

"Thanks. Can you give the kids a ride back, Uncle Snow?" Hope asked, the last part in a teasing tone. His only response was a nod before Snow turned and headed back to Serah.

* * *

><p>"Ahh... Alright, then." Hope settled Lightning in the passenger side of the car, securing her seatbelt before straightening up and nodding, walking around to the driver's side and sliding in, putting on his own seatbelt.<p>

He had found the kids, telling them that their mom wasn't feeling good, so he was taking her home, first. They had been worried, but Hope had made sure to set Lightning in a chair before talking to them, so they wouldn't see that she was, indeed, very sick, and become frantic. Hope had told them Uncle Snow and Aunt Serah would take them home later, and then they could see Mommy, so the children nodded and returned to their games.

Once they reached the apartment, Hope had picked Light out of shotgun and carried her, princess-style, to the elevator. Oh, if Light had known... She would not have liked it. He could just imagine her protests, and chuckled.

_"Wh... Hope, put me down! I can walk by myself, for God's sake... This is embarrassing...!" _And then, of course, if he hadn't put her down by that time, she would knock him one upside the head.

Unlocking the front door, Hope stepped into the large, dark apartment, flicking on the lights, but only half of them. He didn't want to wake Light up, after all. Chok had gone with Sazh and Dajh to the restaurant, but had had to be tethered up near their red car.

With a huff, Hope gently settled his wife onto their bed. _Won't it be uncomfortable, sleeping in a dress? B-But, there's nothing I can do about it... _Hope went red, and even checked to make sure Lightning wasn't awake, covering his face with a hand. He carefully covered her with the comforters, and rushed to the bathroom to get the thermometer.

Encasing the device in one of the thin, plastic covers, Hope carefully placed the thermometer into Light's mouth, holding it there until it beeped, alerting him that it had determined exactly how high her temperature was. _102.3 degrees? How did it shoot up so quickly? I need to give her medicine... If it doesn't go down by tomorrow, I'll take her to see a doctor._

Rushing to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, Hope quickly pulled out some boxes that the family commonly used for fevers and colds. In the kitchen, he filled a mug with warm, almost hot water before hurrying back to the master bedroom. Hope bent over Lightning, shaking her shoulder gently. "Light... Wake up. You need to take your medicine."

The woman grumbled before opening her eyes a little. "Hope... Where... You brought me home?" She propped herself up on her elbow, rubbing at her eyes. "Ugh... I can't... People will be coming over..."

"No, Light, they won't be coming over until ten. It's only seven, right now. You should sleep. Here... Water and some pills. You have to swallow them. Also, change into your pajamas. Not the tank top pajamas, you might get sicker. I always tell you, you shouldn't wear a shirt with no sleeves to sleep..." Setting the water and medicine onto the bedside table, Hope walked to the dresser, pulling out a set of sleeping wear; long-sleeved shirt and long pants.

"You're like a mother hen..." Light downed the pills, washing them down with a mouthful of the water, before drinking up the rest of it. She took the clothes Hope handed her, and proceeded to unzip the back and shrug off the dress. It clearly didn't matter to her that her husband was standing right there, but Hope's face promptly turned a violent shade of scarlet, and quickly faced the other direction.

A few moments later, which were insufferably embarrassing to the twenty-three year old male, there was a small _poomp _sound of a head plopping down onto a pillow. Hope turned, slowly, his face still red, but cooling down, to see that Light, having changed into the pajamas, had collapsed back onto the bed, breathing evenly. Shaking his head, Hope leaned over and drew the covers up to her chin, kissing her on the forehead. Walking around to the other side, he let himself fall onto the bed beside her, turning his head to look at her sleeping face.

Hope could remember that when he was sixteen years old, he had gotten terribly sick himself. His father had been away on a business trip, and Hope hadn't wanted to trouble him. Now that Bartholomew was a single father and that their relationship had been mended, Hope appreciated how hard his dad tried to support him. It wouldn't do well for Bartholomew's job if he were worried about his son's health.

Light, someone who visited the Estheims often, had been the one to find him, pale-faced and panting in bed, the covers thrown off his sweaty self. In all truth, he didn't remember much of that time, other than feeling absolutely terrible, and then seeing Lightning's frame in the doorway. _"Hope...? Hope, what's wrong?" _Apparently, though, Light had simply nursed him back to health in one night. He _did_ remember waking up with her leaning against the side of the bed, fast asleep.

Hope's eyes began to close. Above Lightning's head, on the night stand, stood a picture of the family sitting in front of a Christmas tree. Aidan sat on his father's shoulders, and Vanille was in Lightning's lap. All were laughing, even Lightning. Hope's last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep was, _I must be... one of the luckiest guys in the world... I think you would agree, right, Mom? _


	6. Discovered

**Just a little note from me before this whole thing starts: I really hope no one finds offense when I defend my writing from responses. My writing style is just a little bit different, and I may feel that I need to explain myself a bit. I really _do _appreciate all the comments. Please don't take it the wrong way.**

**FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud- Oh, the two hads were intended. ^^ And I feel like, with Hope's personality, he would blush, anyways. Just my interpretation. Thanks for reading!**

**AssasinZAssasin- Oh, since I used "Sis" in this one a lot, I figured I might as well explain right here. I have Serah call Lightning "Sis," because in the cutscene of Lightning's birthday, she called her Sis, and the one who called Lightning "Claire" was the evil priest dude. I forget his name. ^^;; But, thanks once again for the review! I'm so happy to be thought of as a friend. :D Thanks for the risk, too, you ninja. xD**

**PinkhairedSoldier- Aw, really? That makes me super happy. :) Thank you! Lightning is, indeed, quite an individual. :3**

**xXAnime4LifeXx- Ahh, the Odin scene! ^^ Hehe, thanks, Psychic reviewer!**

**ventus4ever- Thank you! (By the way, I like your picture. I'm a KH fan myself.)**

* * *

><p>...<em>Ugh. Feels so stuffy in here...<em>

Lightning's blue eyes opened slightly, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed, closing them again, and rolling over. _In a few minutes I have to go wake Aidan up for school... Hope needs to go to work, too... Eugh, I feel terrible..._

After a couple of seconds, Light sighed again and opened her eyes. She was face to face with her husband, who was sleeping quietly, his head turned towards her. Looking at him for a moment, Light sat up and raised an eyebrow. _Why did he wear his suit to sleep?_

Suddenly, everything flooded back to her, and Light gasped. The party! What time was it? She whipped about, staring past the empty glass and the picture until her eyes rested on the digital clock on her nightstand. _9:45... Shit! I'm still in pajamas and everything!_

Leaning forward, she snatched her abandoned dress off the floor, shaking it a few times before turning and shaking her husband. "Hope! Hope, we have to get up... Urgh..." Light collapsed once again, hand on her burning forehead. "Hope... Hope, wake up..."

"Few more minutes..." Hope mumbled as he reached over and laid a hand on Lightning's cheek. There was a moment's silence as the young man's brow furrowed, and then his eyes flew open. "The party!"

"_Yes, the party," _Light hissed at him. "_How could you let me sleep?"_

"Your temperature was _102.3, _Light. _A hundred and two point three._ You _had _to get some rest. Look, I'll explain everything to the guests, and everyone will understand. For now, take your temperature again. The thermometer and some covers are on the nightstand. C'mon, Light. Even you aren't invincible."

The woman groaned and planted her face into the pillow, the dress spread over the covers. Hope ruffled her hair a bit before standing, stretching, and walking over to the door to head towards the bathroom. Light was grabbing a hold of the thermometer, propping herself on her elbow, when Hope seemed to change his mind and come back to the room. "Say, Light."

"Hm?" Light pulled a plastic sheet out of the box.

"You remember when I was really sick? When I was in high school. Sixteen or seventeen years old." Hope sat down on the ground, leaning against the bed with his chin tucked into his arm.

"Yep. How could I forget? I thought I'd have to take you to the hospital." Light stuck the thermometer, complete with cover, into her mouth and turned it on, listening to the beeps that sounded from the device.

"What exactly did you do to make me better?" The question made Light raise an eyebrow, as she looked from the thermometer to Hope. "I mean, I was a whole lot sicker than you are right now, right? Maybe whatever you gave me would help you get better, too."

"What ah gahve you?" Lightning repeated, her speech slightly jumbled by the thermometer. She held up a finger to tell Hope to wait for her answer. About a minute later, the thermometer gave the signaling noise, and Light tugged the device from her lips.

"Mm... 100.7 degrees."

"That's better than your temperature earlier." Hope gazed at her expectantly, green eyes locking onto her blue ones.

"As for your question, I gave you medicine, made sure you had covers on, made you drink warm water, and gave you basic care. It was surprisingly effective." Light said it in a firm tone of voice, but broke away from Hope's intense gaze, extremely interested in the thermometer.

"Wasn't I so sick I was delirious? And that's all you did to cure me?" Hope didn't try to hide the skepticism in his voice.

"Yeah..." Lightning brushed the subject away like it was just a gnat, and pushed herself into an upright sitting position. "I have to change..." She stood, weaving back and forth.

Putting on a brave face, Light took a step forward, and promptly keeled over to the side, her head aching with a vengeance. Hope managed to get under her and catch her, scolding her for her rash behavior. "Lightning, you're _sick. _Stop trying to act like you're not. We can tell everyone coming that you aren't feeling well, so you're excusing yourself from the after party."

"But... Serah..."

"Serah will eventually find out. She'll find out even faster if you try to attend. And anyways, what will you do if you get other people sick?"

That put a stop to Lightning's arguments. Hope could feel her body tremble, then go limp in defeat. "You'll sleep now... right?"

The woman sighed quietly, then nodded. Hope helped her sit back onto the bed, and took her dress from her, hanging it in the wardrobe. Next, he helped her to the bathroom, but, halfway down the hall, she pushed away from him, insisting she could walk by herself.

Five minutes later, Lightning poked her head out of the door to find Hope leaning against the wall. She scowled. "I _told _you I could walk by myself."

He grinned sheepishly. "Eh, you know... Just in case."

"...The guests are late."

Hope laughed. "You can probably imagine why."

"Snow." The two said in unison. They smiled at each other, before walking down the hall together, back towards the master bedroom. "You feeling better, now?" The white-haired man inquired, putting an arm around Light.

"Mm. My head throbs a little, but otherwise I'm fine."

"...You'll still sleep, right?"

"_Yes. _You aren't my mother, Hope."

"Hey, I'm just checking."

Lightning placed her head on the pillow, drawing the covers up to her chin. "Don't let the kids eat any of the ice cream, or else they'll be hyper for the rest of the night. Vanille needs to drink as much warm water as she can. She has a recital tomorrow. Aidan has a soccer game, too, so he can only stay up until 10:30. Make sure Ethan doesn't break anything, and..."

"_Li~ght."_

"_Remember all that."_

"Who's not my mother now?"

"...Hope."

"I got it, I got it." Hope leaned over and kissed Light, once on her lips before moving up to place a second kiss on her forehead. "Good night."

"...'Night..." Lightning murmured, clearly already sleepy.

Suddenly, raucous laughter outside the apartment could be heard, even in the bedroom, and Hope quickly exited, closing the door. Rushing over to the door, he opened it just as Snow was lifting a finger to ring the doorbell. The rest of the party that was staying for the after party was behind him, Serah, and the kids, all chattering and joking. Clearly, the celebratory mood had not faded in the slightest and Hope ushered the whole lot into the apartment, smiling as Aidan ran over to stand beside him, one hand grasping his pants, and Vanille jumped as high as she could, wrapping her arms around her father's lower waist area. Hope picked her up, closing the door as the last of the crowd entered.

"How's Mom?" Aidan asked, tugging impatiently on his father's leg. "Can we go see her now?" Vanille clearly agreed, though all she did was comb her father's hair with her tiny fingers.

Hope looked around carefully. Serah was preoccupied with a group of people who were extremely interested in the full details of exactly how Cocoon fell. Snow, having full knowledge of everything in and about the apartment, was serving drinks to a few laughing guests, and winked at Hope when he caught his eye.

"Mm." Hope finally agreed, setting Vanille down. "You two go, first, okay? Daddy's going to say hi to some people, first. Don't tell Auntie Serah that your mother's sick, okay? Otherwise, the party will be spoiled for her, and she'll be sad."

Aidan nodded solemnly and Vanille quickly put a finger to her lips. "Very hush-hush, right, Daddy?"

Hope grinned and nodded, before Aidan rolled his eyes and herded his sister towards the master bedroom. Aidan and Vanille _did_ get into fights, but their relationship was quite good. They got along and were more often seen laughing together than arguing.

Due to him being the first child, Hope and Lightning had been determined to raise Aidan well, and so, had been harder on him in his younger days. He had adapted to it, and knew they meant well, though. It turned out to be a good thing, as Aidan grew to be a mature child who could provide a helping hand in caring for his younger sister.

Hope headed around the counter to aid Snow in serving guests, laying out more glasses and filling them with champagne, sparkling cider, and other beverages. He also filled up a bowl with ice and set it beside the man. "You forgot the ice."

"Oh, really? Thanks. How's Lightning?"

"She's sleeping right now, but her temperature has gone down since we first got home."

"Well, that's good, but won't all this," Snow waved a hand around to indicate the party, "wake her up?"

"Don't worry. When she's sick, Light sleeps like a rock. Besides, the medicine I gave her says it might induce drowsiness." Hope spilled some water on the ground, and quickly squatted to wipe it up.

"Does that really matter? Anyways, it's good that she's getting better. It's rare that Lightning would get sick, though. Ow. Stupid dust..." Snow was rubbing his eyes with a large hand.

"Lightning is _what?" _A voice hissed behind the two. Snow spun around, eyes a tad pink, and Hope craned his neck upwards. Serah stood there, having snuck around while the two were preoccupied.

"S-Serah..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Serah whispered furiously, bending down so that people would think she was simply helping Hope.

"Well... Light... I, uh..." Hope spluttered, before finally blurting out, "It's _your _party, Serah, and we didn't wanna ruin your night, and Lightning would've killed us, and, and..."

"Lightning's my _sister! _If it isn't that serious, it'd be fine, but I want to know if she isn't feeling well! You know perfectly well she wouldn't hurt you guys..."

"She punched me twice during our journey."

"...that much. But still!" Serah straightened up and stomped off towards Lightning and Hope's room, Hope close behind her.

"Ah... Be right back, folks." Snow excused himself from the chatting group at the table, following suit.

When the door burst open, the two kids already there looked up in surprise, then, as they saw their aunt in the doorway, with their father and uncle standing meekly behind her, their expressions turned to ones of reproach.

"Daddy, I thought this was supposed to be a mission!" Vanille squealed, sitting up on the bed, from where she had been talking to her brother.

"Weren't we _not_ supposed to tell Auntie...?" Aidan muttered from his position on the floor, beside his mother, who was still sleeping.

Serah turned to give a sideways glare at the two men behind her, strongly resembling Lightning. Then, she strode over and kneeled beside Aidan, ruffling her nephew's hair, before placing her hand on Lightning's forehead. Hope and Snow entered the room, Snow closing the door behind him.

Vanille jumped off the bed and ran over to Serah, sitting and resting her arms on his lap, before tucking her chin into her elbow. Aidan frowned and flicked her forehead, but otherwise let her be. "Auntie, why are you angry at Daddy and Uncle Snow?"

"Angry? No, no, I'm just a little irritated, sweetie..."

"You look like Mom when _she's _angry."

Serah sighed. "Your dad and uncle were supposed to tell me that your mother's sick." She gave the men another look. Snow winced slightly, imagining it was his sister-in-law glaring at him. Hope gave a nervous laugh.

Vanille leaned forward, looking into her aunt's face earnestly. "But Daddy and Uncle Snow only kept it a secret because they didn't want you to be sad."

Aidan nodded in silent agreement, leaning back on his hands. He took an interest in craning his neck and looking at his mother.

Serah considered Vanille's statement for a moment before sighing. "Alright, alright..." She turned back around and this time her expression was one of reluctant forgiveness, as her gaze rested upon Hope and Snow. "I suppose you two really _did_ mean the best for me... And yourselves, since Light seems to have threatened you two."

Aidan's gaze had not moved from his mother's unmoving form, and now he gently nudged his sister off his lap before getting up onto his knees, hands on the edge of the bed. "...Hi, Mom."

Lightning rolled over and looked at his son. "...Why aren't you entertaining and playing with the other kids?"

Vanille jumped up to her feet, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Mommy! You're up! Are you feeling better?"

Lightning's face cracked into a thin smile, nodding, before resting her hand on Aidan's head. "You two go play. The other kids will be wondering where you are."

The children, satisfied their mother was fine, scrambled out the door, now eager to join in the celebrations.

Aidan and Vanille had convinced Serah that Hope and Snow had meant the best, but they had not thought that Light would be furious. The woman heaved herself into a sitting position, calmly smoothing out folds in her pajamas. When she glanced up, though, she looked past her sister and glared at the two men cowering against the door.

"I _thought _I told you _not to tell Serah."_

Snow looked up at the ceiling and Hope tried a winning smile, but it quickly slipped off his face. "Er... Slip of the tongue, Light?"

"Yeah. I bet."

The two breathed a sigh of relief when their heroine, Serah, stepped in to defend them. "Wait, wait, Sis, it's alright! I actually got mad at them for _not _telling me. I overheard them. Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"Serah, you'd get upset. It's your big night. I don't want anything to spoil it."

"I'm even _more _upset that you wouldn't let me know about your condition. Won't you forgive them?"

There was a long pause, in which Lightning and Serah stared at each other, and the two guys prayed with all their hearts to be spared. Finally, Light closed her eyes and lay back onto her pillow. "...Fine."

Two small sighs sounded near the door. "Er... Well, we'll leave you two ladies for some quality family time, and go entertain the guests..." Hope opened the door and Snow tried to slip past him to escape first.

"_Hope. _We're talking, later." Came the sharp statement from the bed.

Hope groaned as he closed the door behind him, Snow keeping in a huge gale of laughter, small chuckles escaping. "T-Tough nubs, buddy..." He gasped. "That's what you get for marrying Lightning, of all women..."

Hope punched his arm, and Snow quickly headed back towards the counter

_But... Maybe tonight wasn't so bad, after all._

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><p><strong>Things for my FFXIII series may slow a little, as I'm starting a IX fanfic. Sorry! If you like FFIX, feel free to check it out. :)<strong>

**Remember: If you want to request a story, just tell me in the comments!**

**FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud requested a wedding and proposal story between Lightning and Hope. The wedding will be separate, and I will include the proposal somewhere. :)**

**AssasinZAssasin wanted to know what happened when Hope got sick a few years before this story. That will also be included in my other fanfic.**


	7. Events Both Planned and Unplanned

**Thank you, everyone, for your support. ^^**

**ventus4ever****: Mommy Lightning is good to her kids. :) Except when they misbehave. THEN IT'S DISCIPLINE TIME!**

**FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud****: I changed that thing to make it less confusing. Thanks for pointing it out. ^^**

**PinkhairedSoldier****: Whew. Glad I managed to make Vanille act the way she was supposed to. xD I meant her to be the cute one, with Aidan as the more serious kid. Oh, you and your mind... :P Hasn't that happened before? Anyways, thanks for all those reviews on my other stories.**

**AssasinZAssasin****: Waaah, sorry! I changed the stuff (including your request at the bottom)! And nono, your reviews don't offend me. You're a great help, thank you. ^^ As for your question, I can't answer that. 8D That's for you to decide! No worries about the FFIX. :) CAN I CALL YOU JOHNNY? :D Tehehehe.**

**-siarafaerie-101-miss****: Oh, thank you! Yep. Here's that update. :3**

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><p>Hope gave the living room a glance before he turned off the lights. The large glass table in front of the T.V. was littered with empty cups and plates of empty food. The "lobby," which had been strewn with boots, sneakers, high heels, and almost any other footwear, just a few minutes earlier, was now a hall full of footprints, and there were pillows on the floor from where the kids had been playing. Not to mention that, halfway through the party, Chok had decided he wanted to join in on the festivities, too. The details of the absolutely chaotic mess that followed can be left to the imaginations of the viewer.<p>

Sighing, the silver-haired man flicked off the lights, turning to head towards the master bedroom. Vanille and Aidan had already gone to bed, and Hope had just said goodbye to the Villiers, children half-asleep and parents yawning constantly. _I'll clean up tomorrow... _Hope thought to himself.

He ran his fingers gingerly across the wall as he passed, brushing past several new dents on its surface. As he placed his hand on the doorknob to his and Lightning's room, Hope sighed, touching his forehead lightly to the door. He was _not _looking forward to this "talk."

Bracing himself, he opened the door. Lightning sat in bed, a book open on her lap. Hope stood frozen in the doorway for a moment, before closing his eyes and sighing quietly. He shut the door behind him and stepped towards the wardrobe, pulling out his PJs. As he peeled off his shirt, Light closed the book with a defined snap, setting the novel on the bedside table. Not a word was spoken, though, and Hope continued changing in a nervous silence.

He finished and turned to find Lightning lying down, eyes closed. It was a little obvious she was awake, though. Hope clambered into bed beside the woman and the two lay in silence for a moment. Then, Hope turned and reached over to poke Lightning's cheek. "Light~ Are you mad at me?"

She turned and glared at him, as a response. Hope frowned. "Oh, come on. Serah would've found out eventually. I mean, you couldn't have gone and seen her off, and she wouldn't noticed."

Lightning gave a "Hmph," and turned her back on Hope. The silver-haired boy immediately sat up and slung himself over the woman's side, tucking her chin into her arm and forcing her to look at him. "Hey. C'mon, Lightning. Don't be mad. Won't you forgive me?"

The pink-haired woman didn't say anything, but she accepted Hope's goodnight kiss, which made him feel a little more confident on Lightning's mood towards him as he leaned back onto his pillow. Beside him, Light rolled back onto her back, and was soon breathing deeply and evenly. Hope smiled, before snuggling deeper into his comforters.

* * *

><p>Because his wife was still recovering, Hope forced himself to wake up early and drag himself out of bed. He gathered his clothes and, quietly as possible, let himself out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. Before he went to the bathroom, though, Hope checked in on his two kids.<p>

The door opened with a small creak, as Hope entered Vanille's room. The walls of the space were cream-colored, like most of the apartment's walls, and the rest of the room was a charming mix of pastel colors. Outside, the sun was just peeping over the horizon, sending its golden shafts of light across the blue carpet, which had a few toys on the ground. Vanille's desk sat near the door, a red chair in front of it. A practice bow huddled in a corner, its quiver leaning against it.

Her bed was in the opposite corner. The pink covers were thrown back and it was empty.

Hope's brow furrowed. "Hm...?" He wondered aloud as he looked about the room. A sudden thought hit him, and Hope spun on his heel to cross the hall and open the adjacent door.

A sea of cream carpet spread out before Hope, matching the beige walls. Like Vanille's room, there were a few books and toys scattered here and there. The way the furniture was set up was a bit odd, though. The desk was smack dab in the middle of the room, it's white, spindly chair set neatly beside it. The bookshelves and various other furnishings lined the walls, surrounding the desk. The bed was closest to the door, so it was viewable right when one opened the door. Aidan liked mixing things up a bit. It was his room, after all.

The said boy was lying in bed, legs out of and over the covers. He was splayed out lazily, his arms stretched out on either side of him. His right arm was flung over a stuffed animal; a horse Aidan had had ever since he was extremely small. It was worn and old from being thoroughly tossed about, hugged, and generally roughly loved.

Vanille lay beside the boy, cuddled up to her older brother's side. Her head rested on Aidan's left arm, and her arms were wrapped around a stuffed toy bunny. It was green, with a red patch on its forehead, resembling a jewel. It was even _more _dog-eared and shabby than the horse, as it had been a present from a friend of Hope's.

Hope smiled and lifted Vanille's head from Aidan's arm. Hope imagined it would be weary from the weight of her crown, and placed it at Aidan's side. Taking the edge of the bundled blankets lying at the foot of the bed, Hope pulled the covers up to spread across Vanille's shoulder and Aidan's chest. The adolescents slept soundly on as Hope tiptoed out of the room and closed the door.

Ambling down the hall, Hope sighed at the mess in his house. He snatched up a trash bag from a drawer in the kitchen, which was filled with all sorts of rolled up bags. Trudging about the area, Hope plucked up empty cups and tossed them carelessly into the bag. The cups with liquids still in it had their contents dumped down the drain, before also being thrown away.

About an hour later, the living room had been cleaned up. The tables and counters had been wiped with a clean cloth, and the cups were now non-existant. The floor shone in the morning sunlight, having been wiped with a wet mop. That same mop was now being used to vigorously scrub the footprints in the lobby off the face of the earth, as Hope cleaned with a vengeance.

He was so absorbed in his cleaning, Hope didn't notice that Aidan had woken up and stepped into the kitchen until the child opened the refrigerator. "Oh, Aidan," Hope straightened up, leaned the mop against the wall, and headed towards the kitchen. "There are some leftover waffles in the fridge. If you want 'em, put them in the toaster, and eat some strawberries."

"M'kay," Aidan said as he popped the waffles into the toaster and poured himself a glass of milk. "You want something, too, Dad? Is Mom still asleep?"

"I'll just fix something, myself. And yeah, your mother's still sleeping. She should rest for today, so I'll bring you to your soccer game. Later, we'll go to Vanille's concert. Sound good?" Hope pulled out a container of strawberries, setting them on the table before going back to pull out a bowl of cereal for himself.

"Mhm." Aidan mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and sat down at the table, waffles in front of him. "Hey, Dad?" He asked, perking up suddenly.

"Mm?" Hope shoveled a spoonful of cereal and milk into his mouth.

"Can we have another battle lesson this week?" Aidan asked excitedly, leaning forward. "I wanna see you fight Mom!"

"Err... I'd really rather not face your mom."

Aidan frowned and sat back, pouting grumpily. "You need to man up, Dad, or else Mom's gonna ditch you."

"Wh-What did you say?"

"What did you say to your father?" Lightning inquired angrily, as she suddenly appeared.

"Holy-"

"Oh crap! Mom, when'd you get here... Ow!" Lightning flicked the boy's arm and stared him down.

"How many times have I told you to change that rude attitude?" Lightning demanded. Hope attempted to calm her down a little as he slid out of his seat and set the cereal bowl in the sink.

"It's just a growing up thing, Light..." Hope said. However, he was cut off by the telephone ringing, and picked up the phone, holding the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"

Vanille emerged from the hallway, her hair sticking up wildly. Her blue eyes were dulled slightly, and she kept yawning as she plonked herself down into her chair and slumped over onto the table. Aidan reached over and gave her a sullen poke. "Hurry up and eat. Didn't you say you wanted to come watch me play?"

All that he got for a reply was a grumbled sentence that didn't make much sense. As he continued prodding his sister, she suddenly turned her head and chomped down on his finger. Aidan howled and pushed hard at Vanille's head. She let go and stuck her tongue out at her older brother, eyes now blazing with anger. Lightning stepped forward to separate the squabbling siblings, and Hope plugged his free ear to hear the person on the other end of the line properly.

"Your household's as lively as ever, ain't it? It was the same when I called Serah."

Hope grinned. "Hey, Sazh. It's actually noisier than usual. Even Lightning's joined in."

"Damn."

"I know."

"Anyways, is your family free this Saturday? Me and Dajh wanna invite you all out on a picnic!"

"Hey, that sounds great! I think we're free," Hope said as he checked the calender. "But you're going to have to double-check with Light."

"Cool. Can you hand the phone to her?"

Hope obliged, dragging Lightning away from the argument and placing the phone in her hands. He took her place, trying to get the two siblings to settle down. Vanille was on the verge of angry tears and Aidan was beginning to enter his sullen silence mode.

As Hope exclaimed at the time and ushered the kids to their rooms to change, Lightning nodded, flipping a page in the calender. "Yeah, we're free that day... Mm. Alright, thanks. See you then."

* * *

><p>They had arranged to go to a park close by that Saturday for a picnic, but that wasn't until next week. For now, Lightning would stay at home, recovering, while Hope drove Vanille and Aidan to their respective events.<p>

First, the car pulled up to the soccer field where Aidan's soccer team would be playing a match. The three of them hopped out of the car and approached the field, Aidan, all dressed up in his uniform, running ahead to join the team in warm-ups. Hope pulled out two folding chairs out of the back of the car, one small and one large, and set them up on the edge of the field.

Vanille sat in the smaller chair, quickly dozing off. She had brought her favorite stuffed animal, and the green bunny sat in her lap. The weather was great. The sun shone down upon the mass of green, yet a constant breeze warded off the more harsh effects and temperature of the fiery star.

Hope tilted his head back, allowing the light to bathe his face. He stretched, yawning, not noticing a gaggle of girls giggling nearby. Vanille did, though, and her eyes popped open. She bounced out of the chair and launched herself into her father's lap. "Daddy, Daddy!"

"Whoa, what is it?" Hope's green eyes opened and gave his daughter a quizzical glance. The group of girls looked slightly put off, but still fidgeted nearby.

Satisfied, Vanille settled herself comfortably in her usual spot on her father's lap, putting her bunny doll in her lap at around the same spot. "I just wanted to watch the game here!"

Hope grinned, ruffling her hair. "That's fine with me. It's about to start now." He motioned towards the field, where Aidan was starting the match, facing the opponent.

A whistle blew and in a flash, Aidan was past the opposite team's starter, running down the field with the ball. As a defender blocked him, he passed to a teammate. Hope was envious of his son's talent in the sport. When he was younger, he was never exactly the best at sports, though he had gotten much, _much _better, athletically, after his journey with the rest of the group.

After a while into the match, throughout which Vanille had been bouncing up and down nonstop on her father's lap, the little girl leaped to her feet, running to the very edge of the field. "_Go Aidan, __**go!" **_She screamed as loud as she could, before Aidan's coach gently told her she needed to back up, away from the field.

Hope reached over and pulled her back onto his lap, shoving a water bottle into her hands. "Stop that, honey, settle down. Drink. You're singing, later, after all."

Vanille drew her legs up to her chest, setting the doll in the chair beside her, and put the water bottle to her lips. She continued to watch the match with an intent gaze as she sipped the liquid. Aidan's coach signaled him to switch places with another boy, to give him a rest, and the rusty-haired boy ran to the edge, slapping hands with a friend of his.

His replacement, an older boy, whispered with a grin, "Your sister's cute."

Aidan made a face, a half-glare and half-exasperated look, and muttered, "Ew. No, she isn't..."

He jogged to the bench and sat down, leaning back to talk to teammates and drink water. Vanille made a movement as if to leap off Hope's lap again, but her father quickly set his hand on the top of her head to stop her.

"Your children are quite a handful, aren't they?" A woman leaned over to ask Hope, who smiled sheepishly back.

"A-A little..." On his lap, Vanille cheered loudly as another goal was scored for their team.

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><p>Much later, the three of them had come home, with Aidan sweaty, but proud of his team's victory, and Vanille chattering to her brother and father about different, rather random, topics. Once they entered, though, all three of them quieted. Lightning lay on the couch, sleeping soundly.<p>

Aidan jogged off to the shower, and Vanille tiptoed off to her room to prepare for her concert. Hope drew a blanket over Lightning, but, unfortunately, that awoke the woman. "...How was the soccer game?"

"Good. Aidan's team won. We're about to leave for Vanille's concert."

"...Bring the camcorder with you..."

Hope frowned down at his wife. "Are... Are you alright? Light? You don't look good. Are you getting sick again?"

The pink-haired woman only rolled to face the back of the couch, not answering. Hope shook his head, forehead furrowed with worry. "...I'll call Serah to look after you while I'm gone at the concert."

"Don't... She's busy..."

"You are _much _more important to Serah than her job is, I can tell you that with 100% confidence. _Don't _give me that look, Lightning! Even if you get mad at me, I won't have you alone later, in your condition!" Hope's own anger flared as Light tried to stare him down. Having Hope angry at Lightning was such a rare case, Light actually looked at him in surprise, not offering any retort.

Hope turned and strode to the kitchen, snatching up the phone and dialing the Villiers' number rapidly. "...Hello? Nora? Is your mother home? Alright, I'll call her cell. Thanks. Bye bye."

Sighing, he hung up, then entered a different number. Behind him, Aidan poked his head around the wall, hair damp from his quick shower. Vanille soon joined him, looking curiously at her mother's form on the couch, then at her father. They rarely heard Hope yelling at anyone.

"...Serah? Hey, it's Hope. Mm. Yeah. Can you come take care of Lightning while I'm at Vanille's concert? Yep, unfortunately. Calm down, she should be fine. Serah... _Serah. _Calm. Down. No, I'm fine. Yeah, thank you. See you."

Hope hung up the phone and turned to Vanille. "We need to wait until Aunt Serah gets here, okay? She's taking care of Mommy."

"Is Mommy sick again? I thought she got better?"

"Yeah, Mommy isn't feeling so good."

"Mm... Okay." Vanille hopped over to the couch, sitting on the ground nearby. "Mommy, are you okay?"

Lightning rolled back over to face Vanille, and nodded. Vanille nodded gravely. "That's good. Aidan," She stood and skipped to her brother. "Will you come listen to my concert?"

"Huh? I'm tired...!"

"What? I came to watch your soccer game!"

"I never asked you to..."

"That's mean!" Vanille began pummeling at her brother, and a small scuffle ensued. Hope sighed. They never really hurt each other, and he found that trying to separate them just made more commotion.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Vanille and Aidan had fought until both were in a rage, and then the next minute they were sharing a bowl of ice cream. Aidan had agreed to attend her concert, and now the two were fine, as Hope had predicted.

Opening the door, Hope welcomed Serah into their apartment. "That was ridiculously fast. I hope you didn't speed."

"Probably did. I slowed down near the cameras, though." Serah said quickly, as she rushed to her sister's side. "Sis? Are you okay?"

Lightning had had her eyes closed, but opened them at Serah's arrival, and now sat up. "...Yes. What about your work?"

"It's fine. I was about to leave, anyways."

Hope motioned Aidan and Vanille to get ready. "In that case, we're going to head to Vanille's concert, now."

Serah nodded. Lightning wished Vanille luck, and the two kids and Hope left.

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><p>Two hours later, the three were on their way home, in high spirits. Vanille had done well in her solo, and Aidan and Hope were congratulating her when Hope's phone suddenly vibrated with a text message.<p>

Smiling at one of Aidan's remarks, Hope picked up the phone and flipped it open. **Text Message from Serah Farron**_**, **_the screen told him. He pressed the **OK **button and selected "View Now." What appeared on the screen drained the blood from his face and wiped the smile away, like words being erased off a chalkboard.

Hope wrenched the steering wheel, and the kids yelped as they were thrown to the right, saved from falling completely over only because of their seat belts. "Dad, what are you _doing?" _Aidan cried out.

"We're going to the hospital. Mom isn't feeling good."

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><p><strong>Aidan's rather rude dialogue to Hope in the beginning, and Lightning's response, is from the drawing the kids are based from. "FF13-HxL-XX years later?" drawn by semokan on <strong>**. Check it out, it's awesome! The URL is in one of the earlier chapters. (I'm so sorry to use stuff from the picture, but I'm such a fan... ~whimper~) I got permission from semokan herself, though, so no worries on that matter.**

**To be honest, I wasn't so pleased with this chapter. I skipped all the events, since I figured they would just bore the reader.**

**The two "had"s were intentional.**

**Once again, if you've got any ideas for New Dreams or for me in general, just drop a suggestion in the reviews. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Bad News

**Awww, I've done it again and gone off to disappear for another two weeks. I'm sorry, guys! The reasons for my delay were:**

**1. I went to a week long sleepaway camp.**

**2. I'm taking a summer prep course, so I have less time these past few weeks.**

**3. I've been writing some stuff for groups on , which is why you may or may not have seen all this Kingdom Hearts writing from me. Don't worry, I'm not ditching my FFXIII stories. (I'm Yuxume on deviantart, as well, if you want to check my page. I have pretty much the same stories on my fanfiction account, though.)**

**I promise I'll try to return to a normal schedule! Thanks for putting up with all of that.**

**FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud- Thanks for the corrections and the beach idea! I'll be sure to put that one in. After all, every family needs to go on a vacation together, eh? ^^ Don't worry, my FFIX story is actually pretty much on hold until I get at least one of my FFXIII stories done. (Probably Inner Conflicts, since New Dreams is more of a continuous story.) I may do a FFVII short story. TifaXCloud is a pairing I support, but unfortunately I've always been more of a AerithXCloud fan. Please don't hurt me? :b Hahaha.**

**QTXAdsy- Don't worry about not being able to review! I'm pretty busy myself. That picture is one of my favorites. xD I'll be sure to incorporate that little line into the story, no worries. ^^ It may even be a recurring theme. As for the children growing up, that might be a separate story for those who are interested. :) Thanks for the review!**

**kimaloy94 - Hehe, sorry! I haven't updated in awhile, but read the above part for details on that. Anyways, here's that chapter!**

**AssasinZAssasin- Nah, don't worry about it. I can see where they're coming from, since I pulled that ending in the last chapter. I also haven't updated in awhile, so it's fine. If you don't want me to call you Johnny, I can stop. But, I'm sure you'll get used to it. :) Mwahaha. Thank you for the grammatical corrections! FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud is one of my beta's, but I'd love it if you could be one, as well. I'm really flattered and honored that you enjoy reviewing my stories. Thanks again!**

**Mr steve jr- Oh, that's alright. Thank you for reading! :D**

**tootsiepopgurl- Ehh, she doesn't have anything like those illnesses, but it _is _something threatening? Haha, thank you so much! I'm really happy that your first review was on one of my writings! As for the name Chok, in the game Dajh had stitching on his clothes that read "CHOK" in Cocoon script.**

**Andrea Ye- I think it's all a matter of opinion on whether it's serious or not. xD Thank you for reading!**

**K11Lou- Thank you so much! I'm not sure if it's the same plot twist. Hopefully it's just as good, though! :)**

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><p>Hope, his face as pale as his hair, strode through the hospital hallways. Aidan grimly hurried alongside his father, trotting to keep up with the man's longer strides. Vanille clung to Hope, her face buried in his shoulder. The cloth of his shirt was already wet from her silent tears.<p>

It was a small comfort to the family that the hospital was not one of the cliché, stereotypical, and dark places that appeared in horror films. The hospital was actually a rather bright place. The nurses, doctors, and surgeons walked through the white halls, chatting with each other in their spare time, going over their various charts, and speaking with patients and their families. The patients resided in either a single room or a room with two or three other patients. When they were admitted into the hospital, they or their relatives were able to choose either. If their situation was dire enough, emergency patients were required to stay in a room alone.

It was because of this that Hope was relieved when he burst through the door to find Lightning sitting up in her bed, speaking with two other patients. It meant that her situation wasn't too bad.

Light was pale, but smiling gently at the old woman in the bed to her right. Across from her was a brown-haired young boy. To the left of the boy was an empty bed, it's clean sheets spread neatly across the mattress with nary a wrinkle. There were chairs on either side of all the beds. Serah, whose head rested on her arms as she slept at her elder sister's side, occupied the seat closest to Lightning. An old man- Hope presumed it was the woman's brother due to the resemblance between the two- sat by the elderly woman's side.

Vanille released Hope, squirming so violently that he actually had to drop her. The little girl dropped lightly to the floor and scrambled, sobbing, to clamber onto Lightning's lap and sob into her chest. Her words were choked and indistinguishable amid the wet tears and rather runny nose.

Aidan was much quieter about the whole thing. He only sat on the edge of the bed to lean against his mother's shoulder and closed his eyes. The old woman chuckled fondly, her aged face crinkled up in a smile and the man asked, "Your children, Claire?"

Lightning nodded and took Hope's hand as he sat down heavily beside Serah, who was still snoozing away, even in the commotion. Hope grasped Lightning's hand with both of his and remained silent for quite awhile. Finally, he managed to say, "I'm glad you're okay, Light…"

Light smiled. "Sorry for making you worry. This is Patty, Marshall," Lightning indicated the two seniors, "and Faus." She nodded at the young boy across from her, who waved. "And these are my children, Aidan and Vanille, and my husband, Hope." She introduced the group.

Hope smiled and stood to shake hands and Patty chortled once again. "Look, Marshall," she joked, "Hope has white hair to rival ours." Her voice was warm and almost familiar, and Hope rather liked it.

Faus looked to be about Aidan's young age, and he accepted Hope's hand shyly. Aidan's eyes popped opened and he said, "It's nice to meet you all," politely, as he had been instructed many times by his parents. Usually, Vanille copied her brother, but at the moment she was a bit too preoccupied to do anything.

"Vanille, I'm fine…" Lightning smoothed her daughter's hair. "Stop crying already."

"H-Hospitals are sc-sc-scary!" Vanille wailed. "It's where people die…!" Faus flinched slightly.

"Vanille!" Lightning snapped. "Why would you say that? People get _healed _here. That's rude! Apologize now."

Vanille sniffled, but slowly moved to the very edge of the bed and said, in a choked voice, "I'm sorry…"

Patty held up her hands, "Now now, Claire," She said soothingly, "The child doesn't know much better. It is a common misconception."

Hope tilted his head questioningly at Light, who blinked and then shrugged. "Well, I had to give my real name and maiden name to the doctor, didn't I? Claire Farron Estheim. Patty and Marshall heard the doctor say it, so they just call me that now. Faus calls me Mrs. Estheim."

"Ah," Hope said, sitting the still sobbing Vanille on his lap. Aidan sighed, shifted, and accidently stepped on Serah's hand, which was lying on the covers near him.

"Oops. Sorry, Auntie," Aidan quickly moved his foot away as Serah's eyes opened.

"…Aidan?" The woman sat up. "Oh, everyone's here! That's good!"

"Thanks for caring for Light, Serah." Hope smiled. "But what happened?"

"Ah… Well, I went to the bathroom for awhile, and when I came back, Sis was on the floor…" Serah's expression darkened. "She wouldn't wake up, even though I shook her and called her name. So I called for an ambulance. I may have overreacted, but…" She sighed, "I'm glad her case wasn't too bad…"

Lightning was silent during this exchange, and Hope noticed that her hands were clenched on top of her sheets. "…Light?" Hope tapped her shoulder.

At first, she didn't respond, but then she raised her head. "…Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

Lightning didn't respond. Instead, she shifted her gaze behind Hope as a voice boomed out, "Good afternoon. I presume you are Claire's family."

Hope turned to see a dark-skinned doctor walk into the room. "Yes, I'm Hope Estheim, Claire's husband. These are our children."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name's Dr. Rian," The man extended a hand to Hope and the two shook hands. "About Claire's condition, she should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow morning. Her case isn't severe, but we want to keep her here."

Serah's phone, the sound muffled slightly, rang in her purse. "Oh, excuse me," She murmured, bending over to take the call. "Hello? Oh, hi, Sazh. Yeah, sure." She handed the phone over to Lightning, who gave her sister a startled look before taking the phone.

"Hello? Hi… Yes, I'm fine. No, not really."

"Don't mind it, doctor, please continue," Hope regained the doctor's attention, and the man coughed. "Oh, yes, of course. Anyways, we aren't exactly sure what Claire's case is, but we find that it's similar to her mother's."

Hope drew in a sharp intake of breath. Hope's mother had passed away when Lightning was fifteen. "But, then…"

Dr. Rian inspected Hope's face. "No, Mr. Estheim. We haven't confirmed that your wife's illness is fatal. By "similar," I mean that Mrs. Farron, Claire and Serah's mother, also had a severe fever. One that was enough to make her faint and come to the hospital. The doctors who inspected her could find nothing wrong and dismissed it as just an extremely high fever.

"I did not tell you this to make you worry. All I'm trying to tell you is that for about two months, Claire should not attempt to do anything extremely stressing or physically strenuous."

"Thank you, Dr. Rian." Hope shook the man's hand again before the doctor left, then sat down beside Serah, his expression dazed.

"I'll be able to come to the picnic. Yes, yes, I'd hardly call that stressing. _Sazh," _Lightning's tone with the man on the other end of the phone grew impatient. "I already said, I'll be _fine. _I'll be home tomorrow morning. Yes… No, that's not needed. Good bye."

Lightning handed back the phone with a huff. "You'd think I was ten years old." She was about to say something else, but stopped when Aidan got off the edge of her bed and took Vanille's hand, leading her over to Faus' bed.

Aidan sat Vanille in one of the chairs and then took the seat beside her. "Hi." The boy's greeting was short, but friendly.

"H-Hi," the boy replied, smiling shyly. "You're Aidan, right…? Mrs. Estheim's son? And you're… V-Vanille?"

Vanille sniffed, wiping at her nose with her sleeve. Aidan rolled her eyes and snatched a tissue from a box on Faus' bedside table. "Ew, blow your nose with a tissue, not your _sleeve._" He scolded.

Vanille did as she was told, and after she had cleaned her nose, she nodded. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Vanille," she murmured politely. Then, she dropped the extremely formal tone and a little bit of her energy returned. Vanille sat on the edge of her chair, her white hair falling off her shoulders and dangling in front of her as the excitement of meeting someone new overcame her.

"So you're Faus? How old are you? You look like you're my big brother's age. Do you two go to the same school? Are you okay? Why are you in the hospital?" The questions poured from Vanille until Aidan gave her a light whack on the head to make her stop.

Faus put his hands over his ears in a joking fashion and shook his head from side to side. "Augh, too many questions! Slow down!" Laughing, he removed his hands and began to answer the numerous questions asked of him.

"Yeah, my name's Faus. I'm in your brother's grade, and I _do _go to your brother's school. We just haven't really talked before. I'm okay. I get sick really easily. My body's weak, so I don't see your brother a lot."

The adults watched the children converse quietly, finding a sense of contentment in observing the innocent chatter between the young ones. Suddenly, Hope turned to Patty and Marshall to ask "Would you two, and you and your parents, Faus, like to join our family and friends on a picnic this weekend?"

Vanille bounced up, leaning close to Faus excitedly. "Yes, come with us!" Aidan stayed seated, but nodded enthusiastically.

"You've been very kind to me," Light directed at the old couple. "We would be happy to have you."

"Lightning… Well, Claire, she isn't always very sincere with her feelings. It's quite rare that she expresses herself like this." Hope grinned cheekily while Light glared at him from the hospital bed. "Can I ask why," Hope asked Patty, his expression becoming a serious one, "you are here in the hospital?"

Patty waved a hand. "Oh, don't worry, my dear. I'm just very weak in my old age, and I collapsed one day. Thank goodness it wasn't a heart attack. I'll ask my doctor if I can leave the hospital by then."

"And I'll ask my parents," Faus told them. His cheeks were flushed, excited at the prospect of spending an afternoon with newfound friends.

"Then it's settled. We should ask Sazh, too, though, since he planned the whole thing." Hope looked at Serah. "Serah, could you please bring the kids to your house? I'll pick them up later, but I'm just going to stay here for awhile, okay?"

Serah nodded, but the children whined and grumbled for a while before they reluctantly said their goodbyes and left, but not before kissing their mother on the cheek. Soon afterwards, Faus left the room, guided by a kind nurse, for a checkup. Martha and Patty fell asleep. Apparently, the old man pretty much lived with his wife when she was in the hospital.

And so it was that Light and Hope were left, speaking quietly about what had gone on that day, or about things in general. Finally, Light told Hope that he should probably go pick the kids up. The white-haired man nodded and stood, but didn't move. Lightning looked at him questioningly. Hope sat back down and took Lightning's hand. "Lightning…" Hope looked at her sadly.

"Wh-What, Hope?" Lightning asked, even as she began to tremble. She had never been one to cry, but her voice still shook slightly.

Hope pulled her head onto his shoulder. "It's okay, Light." He said, soothingly. "It's fine. It was just a high fever."

"If I do have something like my mother…" Her voice steadied suddenly, which worried Hope. To be honest, he would've rather had her burst into tears, instead of suddenly becoming calm. "If I have something like my mother, will I just get ill and die…? When Aidan and Vanille are high schoolers."

"Don't say that, Light… That won't happen. We're all here for you." Hope continued to murmur to Light until the woman finally snapped him back to his senses, sending him off to get the kids.

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><p>Much later, at night, Hope lay alone. It felt a little lonely, not having Lightning beside him. But he was just being a big baby. He rolled over on his side. Ever since he had known her, Lightning had been the strong soldier who was always the strong and collected one. She had her caring side though, and that was one aspect of Lightning that some people didn't understand. To see her sitting in the hospital bed had been shocking, in all honesty.<p>

The door to his room creaked open. Hope sat up to see a rusty-red haired head slowly peer around the edge of the door. Aidan's green eyes examined his father curiously. Below him, Vanille's white hair glowed in the light from the window as she copied her older brother. Seeing that their father was awake, they tumbled from the doorway and piled onto his bed.

"Daddy, let us sleep with you tonight!" Vanille fluffed up a pillow she had brought with her and lay down on one side of Hope.

"We thought you'd be lonely," commented Aidan as he did the same on the other side of Hope. The two kids snuggled into their parent.

Hope smiled and put an arm around each of his kids. What he had told Lightning was true. Everyone was together. There would be hope.

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><p><strong>As always, if you've got an idea for me and my stories, run it by me in PMs! Thank you for reading! ^w^<strong>


	9. Park Picnic Party

**Oh, my lord. Guys. I'm so sorry. So so sorry. If you guys read my other FFXIII fanfic "Flipped," you would've seen that I actually came back from my "hiatus" a week ago. Most of you were clamoring for New Dreams and Inner Conflict, though. xD I'm so happy I have people who really enjoy my stories, and I hope no one left me due to my recent inactivity. If you want the whole story of why I was gone for so long, go check out the bottom of the second chapter of "Flipped."**

**I'm also out of practice with these stories, so I'm sorry if this is a little bland to read. Happy reading, nonetheless.  
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**Johan07**** - M-aybe! xD Thanks for reading.**

**ventus4ever - Yes! Light and Hope's children are adorable, and the way the artist drew them is perfect.**

**tootsiepopgurl - I didn't know either, until I read some more on Dajh. :] Thank you so much for reading~**

**K11Lou - I'm happy people like Aidan and Vanille. I was worried I wouldn't be able to write out young children well.**

**AssasinZAssasin - Aw... You're such a great friend and reviewer. Thanks so much! I hope life gives you a break sometime. Don't forget to take a rest every now and then.**

**PinkhairedSoldier - Yayyyy for Estheim family! Thanks a lot of reviewing! No worries about the whole breaks in the review. Hope you like this one, too~**

**Fefisgbf13 - Thanks so much! The author of the art is semokan on deviantart, I believe.  
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><p>The sun shone down on the green grass flecked with flowers, the heat cooled down by the light breeze that swirled constantly through the air. The light blue sky had small, puffy white clouds scattered across it, but there were no signs of any rain whatsoever. The water in a nearby lake glittered in the sunlight, and the shouts and yells of children from the nearby playground made the day's atmosphere ironically tranquil.<p>

All in all, it was a perfect day to have a picnic.

"Mommy, Daddy, over here! It's the perfect spot for the blanket!"

"No, _this _is the perfect spot. We'll get _fried _if we sit over there."

"How about we compromise, guys?"

Hope pulled out a blanket and shook it out, lying the cloth flat on the ground beneath a tree. The branches of the great woody plant shielded half the blanket from the sun, leaving the other half exposed. Shading his eyes with a hand, he gazed up at the sky. "Wow~ This weather is great."

Aidan plopped down onto the shaded section of the blanket, closing his eyes and lying flat on his face. Vanille danced about the blanket before flopping down and lifting her face to the sun, squinting at the clouds. Smoothing out her little blue dress, she wriggled around until her back was to Aidan, and then fell back onto him. "_MMF," _the boy grunted as his sister giggled.

Hope turned as Lightning came up beside him, a basket in one hand. "You alright, Light?" He asked as he took the picnic basket from her and set it on the grass next to the blanket.

Hope had picked Lightning up from the hospital two days before the picnic. The stubborn woman had been protesting that she was fine the entire week and that she should be discharged early, but the doctors would have none of it. Thus, she had been forced to stay the whole time, much to her seething disappointment.

Now, she turned to him with a cocked eyebrow. "I'm _fine._How many times do I have to say that...?" Lightning sighed, her eyes rolling up towards the forget-me-not blue sky. Then, the tussle on the picnic blanket caught her attention. "Careful, guys. Don't hurt each other."

Aidan had managed to wrestle free of his sister after she had pinned him to the ground, and was now proceeding to put her in some sort of headlock, with her yelling and kicking in protest. "She started it!" The boy frowned at his mother, who sighed.

"Aidan." Her voice was firm, and she made a gesture as if to say, "Go on."

The boy gave a deep sigh before releasing his hold on Vanille, who promptly retaliated and tackled him. "Vanille, what did I just say to your brother?" Lightning demanded, striding over.

Turning away from the rather regular family bickering, Hope shaded his eyes from the sun and peered down the hill, which they were standing at the top of. A few figures were making their way up the side of the grassy knoll, and Hope instantly knew who they were.

"Hey, you three! We've already picked a spot!"

"Hi, Uncle Hope!" Ethan exclaimed as he bounded energetically up the hill, catapulting himself onto the blanket. "Hey, guys! Why're you guys just sitting here? Lets go play!" He grabbed Aidan and Vanille's hands, tugging at them relentlessly.

"O-kay!" Vanille sang, jumping up to her feet and running to greet Nora and Fang. Aidan wasn't as quick to leave his comfortable, shady spot on the blanket, but he was still eager to play with his cousins, nonetheless.

The five tumbled down the hill, sliding down the hilly slope, passing Serah and Snow, who were loaded down with picnic necessities. Serah led little Abby up the hill, holding onto the small girl's hand. "Stay safe now, okay?" She told them as they ran past. Vanille and Aidan gave their greetings as they passed. Snow, a large cooler on one shoulder and a basket in the other hand, looked more energetic than ever, laughing uproariously as the children slipped past him.

The playground at the park had all the features of a regular playground, with one defining feature. It's magnificent slide. There were three different slides in the playground, each one varying in size and length. There was the small one, for infants and such. There was a standard sort of slide, just there for those who didn't want to brave the giant one. Very tall, very winding, and rather popular, the tunnel-like slide was the one the five kids were going for.

Ethan reached the ladder going up first, hauling himself up the rungs to the platform above. Vanille ran around the side of it, choosing instead to shinny up the pole. Either way, the kids all got up eventually and lined up at the slide's start, Aidan at the head. None of them saw the two older boys that strolled over to lean against the end of the slide, blocking the exit.

Aidan threw himself down the covered slide headfirst, giving a little whoop as he shot down the cylindrical structure. Whooshing around the turns, Aidan turned onto his back, then back onto his front, enjoying the fall, however short it was.

And then the ride ended with him crashing face first into someone's... well, someone's rear. Aidan looked up, and saw one of two older boys glaring down at him. "Oh, sorry." He said, though he didn't really mean it, in all honesty. He only said it to be polite. After all, why would someone just stand in front of a slide, when people are clearly going to be using it? It was just plain stupid.

"Watch where you're going, idiot!" The boy retorted, and Aidan's polite manner immediately dissolved.

"Well, what'd you expect, that there would be _no _one using the slide?" As the day progressed, even more families were showing up to enjoy the lovely day. The playground would be crowded by mid-afternoon. "That's really stu- OW! No, Ethan, tell them not to come d-OW! No, stop, Fang!"

"H-Huh? What's going on? Is this a new game...?"

"Oh, yeah, it's a new game," Aidan informed her, glaring up at the bully. "And it's a ton of fun. Look how much fun I'm having. It's called 'slide-into-the-fattest-butt' game."

The older boy uttered a low growl and then turned away with an air of indifference. "Fine. Have it your way." He stood up quickly, jumping aside as the kids all came tumbling out, piling on top of Aidan.

Behind them, Vanille shot out of the tunnel with a "whoo!" The three kids on the ground grunted as she landed neatly onto the pile. "What're we doing, guys?" She giggled, "And why are you on the ground, Aidan?"

"Because it's exactly where I wanted to be," Aidan said, sarcasm fairly dripping from his voice. The two older boys exploded into laughter, and Aidan asked, angrily, "Can you guys get off me, now?"

Nora came running over, without using the slide, having noticed the huge commotion. She helped the other kids up and off of Aidan. She had to keep one hand on Ethan's shoulder to keep her twin brother from charging the snide males. Just as Aidan took her hand to pull himself off of the ground, someone tapped the two bullies on the shoulder.

"'Scuse me. What do you think you're doing to my friends?"

The two turned, their eyes immediately rising to survey the person's huge afro with a smirk. Even so, they wouldn't fight against someone clearly much older than them.

"Huh? We aren't doing anything," the second boy idly commented. Dajh's eyes narrowed, and he folded his arms with a huff. The boy speaking continued. "They fell out by themselves. It's their own clumsy fau-"

"Kwehhhhhhh..." A hiss could be heard as a yellow feathered head rose high above Dajh's poofy hairstyle. Chok's eyes glittered maliciously as he surveyed the boys, casting a shadow over the ground.

"That's funny," Dajh commented, petting Chok's neck. "You know, I could've sworn you were blocking the way." The chocobo clicked his beak menacingly.

Casting nervous glances at the boy and his chocobo, the two bullies quickly scooted off with much muttering, moving over to the swing set instead.

"Dajh! Chok!" The children exclaimed, running over to greet their friends. Dajh stood there, smiling that wide smile that got many people to trust him. He put a hand on Aidan's shoulder and brushed off the front of the boy's shirt.

"You guys all okay? They didn't do anything else, did they?"

The children looked at one another and shook their heads, saying, "Not really," and "No." Fang piped up, asking, "Is Uncle Sazh here?"

"Yep, he's sitting at the blanket with your parents." The kids cheered, and Dajh laughed. "You guys like my dad?"

"Uh-huh!" Nora smiled. "Uncle Sazh is funny."

Aidan stretched out his fingers and wiggled them. "His hair feels funny, too," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Enough standing around then, let's go! I'm hungry, too!" Ethan took off, leaping over the border of the playground and jumping about just for the fun of it. The other kids quickly followed him, eager to get their hands on some food.

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><p>Later, when everyone was munching on sandwiches, talking, drinking lemonade, and all the other picnicking activities, Aidan looked up at Sazh and asked, "Uncle Sazh, why do we call you Uncle if you're so old?"<p>

"Aidan!" Hope reproached the boy as Sazh choked slightly on his sandwich. Even so, the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly. Lightning sighed and put two fingers on her forehead. Snow let loose a snort of laughter, and Serah turned around in a fit of giggles, as did the other children. Abby giggled because everyone else was laughing, then turned her attention back to a fuzzy pom pom that was sticking out of the top of Serah's handbag, reaching out for it with her chubby hands.

"What?" Aidan asked defensively, while Sazh forced himself to swallow the offending bite of lunch.

"Well, kids will be kids, I suppose... I guess it's 'cause Dajh isn't old enough to be your uncle." He spread his arms out wide. "So I can't be your grandpa. I sure am old, though!"

"That's okay, Uncle Sazh! We think you're a lot of fun!" Nora said, Vanille and Fang nodding. This brought a sheepish, but happy smile to Sazh's lips.

"Isn't this the life?" Snow jumped up, pumping a fist in the air. "To be under the sun with my beloved family. Because you two," he turned to point dramatically at Sazh and Dajh, "are a part of the family!"

The group on the blanket sighed, and everyone visibly settled back, ready to sit through another one of Snow's speeches.

"The blue sky, the great food, the cheery atmosphere, the sun, the shade!" He swept his arms about in a wide circle. "Perfect day for a picnic!"

Lightning gave Serah a side-ways glance as Snow rambled on. "Did he have coffee this morning?"

Serah smiled. "Nah, I don't think so. He's probably just happy that everyone's here and having a good time. He was actually really worried about you when I told him you were in the hospital."

Lightning blinked in surprise, then shrugged. "...I appreciate it."

"C'mon, Sis! Don't be so stiff."

"Alright, alright. Thanks." The woman felt a sudden weight pressing against her right shoulder, and turned her head to see that Hope was dozing off, lulled by the warm afternoon, the food in his stomach, and Snow's speech.

Snow's tangent ended relatively faster than most of his usually did, and he ended it by kneeling on one knee and extending his arms to the children. "Come and give your uncle and father a big hug!"

Ethan was curled up on his side, blinking blearily up at his dad, unmoving. Nora grinned sheepishly and said, "Sorry, Dad." Fang seemed unsure of what to do, looking between her older siblings and her father. Then, the red-haired girl looked at her cousins.

Aidan sat, leaning against his arms which were behind him, placed on the blanket at either sides of him. At Snow's gesture, he drew back. "No." He muttered, taking another bite of sandwich. Vanille didn't really want to do something her brother wouldn't do, and just sat next to him, shrugging at Fang.

"Come on~ Give your Uncle Snow a hug!"

"Hell no!"

"Aidan, language!" Lightning snapped.

"What, it's not like it's even a curse word!"

"Hell?"

"_Vanille! _What did I just say?"

"But, Aidan said..."

Behind the bickering, little Abby managed to finally grab the pom-pom from her basket, and a squeal emmited from the depths of the bag.

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><p>"Dad, practice with me!" Ethan urged Snow from the picnic blanket, tugging him over to an open space to spar.<p>

Having had the adventure that had been forced upon them, the adults had decided to teach their children how to use weapons of their own choosing. Of course, the children had interests in more than one weapon, so aside from their main skill, they had a few other arms that they could manage.

Sazh, Dajh, and Nora stood near a tree, a gun in Nora's hands. They had made sure that no one was behind or near the tree, which was on the very outskirts of the park. Nora raised the gun to point at the tree, where target had been marked with white paint. Sazh reached over, adjusting her hold on the gun and giving her little tips, Dajh listening closely. Nora nodded, and fired, the bullet biting into the bark of the tree.

Serah helped Vanille out with her bow and arrow, instructing her on the correct posture to hold the bow. They hadn't started firing real arrows yet, as Vanille had to work on her stance. Similar to Nora, Fang stood near a tree with Hope, holding two rings in her hands. They were chakrams, made of plastic so they were easy to practice with. Since they were similar to his boomerang, Hope sat on the ground nearby to oversee her practice.

Aidan and Lightning stood, facing each other, wooden swords at the ready. Lightning stood with a relaxed pose, wooden sword deflecting Aidan's attacks almost lazily. Yet, her eyes sparked and she snapped out commands. "You're leaving spots wide open! What kind of move was that? Don't go for areas that are obviously blocked!"

Naturally, all their practices brought a bit of a crowd, and soon there were actually some complaints about the loud noises, especially from Nora and Dajh's gun practice. Finally, a park officer came over, puffing with indignation. "Excuse me! Please, this is a public place!"

"Aw… How boring…" Aidan muttered. Vanille nodded in agreement, adding, "We were able to practice here last time!"

"Can't be helped." Sazh sighed. "Shall we head home, then? I think we should lay low for a little while, guys. What do you think?"

"Good plan," Snow stretched, then bent to pack things back into the cooler. "But we should do this again sometime!"

"Hey, how about the beach next time?" Serah suggested, which was greeted with a massive cheer from the kids.

"Let's go, let's go! Right, Mommy? You like the idea, too, don't you?"

"Well, it would be nice… We'd have to wait until everyone has breaks from their work, though."

"True, true."

"Even so, that'd be awesome! Let's plan it!" Hope's excitement rose as he packed the blanket away, feeling a little like a boy again. "Oh, and we also have to make sure Lightning can go."

"I'm not going back to that hospital."

"You don't really get a say in that, Sis."

"Hmph. We'll see about that." Lightning walked down the hill, leaving the rest of them standing atop it, wondering.

"_Lightning_," Sazh called after her with a warning and suspicious tone. "What do you mean?"

"She's just bluffing… I hope." The children tittered with laughter, giggling at some unknown secret, before following the pink-haired women, whispering amongst themselves. "But, anyways, about that beach, when do you think we can go?"

"You're really excited, aren't you, Hope?"

"Well, yeah… You know, it's the beach."

"I think he wants to see _someone _in beach attire…" Snow grinned, knocking Hope's head with a fist.

"O-Ow! Be quiet! That's not all of it… And don't say you don't want to go, either!" Hope, flushing slightly, quickly started down the hill as the group behind him erupted into laughter.

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><p><strong>So, I was wondering. Would you guys possibly be interested in seeing how a day in Aidan's and Vanille's shoes are? As in, seeing their school and everything. I might give them some side stories.<strong>

**If you've got any suggestions for my stories, just leave it in the reviews, or shoot me a PM. :]**

**...And have any of you seen the most recent trailer for FFXIII-2? Again, I spazzed out in "Flipped," but HOPE IS ALL GROWN-UP AND AMAZING LOOKING. Snow's bandana-less hair kind of repelled me, but it's growing on me.**

**I'd like to apologize, once again, for being inactive!**


	10. Merry Christmas

**Yo, dudes. I'm back, yo. No, just kidding. I don't ever talk like that. :] Here's your Christmas edition, though!**

**AssasinZAssasin- God, it's been so long, I'm not even sure if you're back yet... I'm going to assume you are? But, if you ARE back, please tell your friend that I really appreciate his review. I thank him for filling in for you. ^^ How have you been? I hope you've been having an easier time, and I'm sorry to hear you're so busy. Don't worry about missing the last review. Anyways, sudden question time! Would you consider being my second beta?**

**Fefisgbf13- Well, half of this chapter is centered like that. xD I hope you like it!**

**xXAnime4LifeXx- Thanks so much! I'm flattered. ^/^ But yes, I loooove how he looks. Though, in all honesty, I think he would look better without the yellow. Maybe black. With sunglasses. YEAHH. Okay. Enjoy. :]**

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><p>The shrill sounds of children excited for the break rang through the halls, accompanied by the pounding beat of their feet. Class had just been let out, and everyone was happy to go home for Christmas break. Spilling out of the doors of the elementary school and piling into the buses, the bustle of the crowd was almost chaotic as every color seemed to clash in a palette of shirts and backpacks. Figuratively speaking.<p>

"Bye, Aidan! See you after break!"

"See you!"

"Bye-bye!"

Aidan turned from the sink he was standing at, and gave a little wave to his friends who were heading out the door. The water that still dripped from his hands shimmered, the sunlight from the window behind the boy causing it to shine golden. A kind, gentle voice cautioned him from the cubbyhole area, "Aidan. Careful, don't drip water on the projects."

"Huh? Oh... Sorry, Ms. Anoli," He quickly moved his hands back to the basin, away from the drawings on the table beside him. For their project, the class was working in groups to write a story. They also had to draw pictures to go along with it, and the multitudes of Crayon drawings covered the tables in the classroom. "Ms. Anoli, what's the math homework again?"

The young, blond-haired woman turned and smiled, her arms full of papers. "Forgot again?"

"Sorry, I just didn't write it down."

"You and Brian should stop talking during class. Though, I agree that the Legend of Zelda series is very good. Stuff like Majora's Mask seems a little too scary for you two, though. Math homework is the whole packet that I gave you today?"

"Okay, thank you. Well, I haven't played Majora's Mask before... Vanille cries if she gets too scared." He would never say so, but he might have gotten scared, too. "And I have to go get her now. Thank you. Have a nice break."

"You, too, Aidan! Be sure to do your homework."

Aidan grabbed his backpack and lunch box from his cubbyhole and ran out the door. The keychains on his pack jangled as he trotted down the color coded hallways of his school. This elementary school was like a big square, with different hallways and rooms branching out of it. In the center of it all was the library, and each corner of the school led to a different grade's designated wing. Except kindergarten. There were only two classrooms for kindergarten, since those children were so young that they were allowed to come in the afternoon, if they wanted to; There were two sessions for each of the two classrooms, an A.M. and a P.M. Everything else had a color. First grade was yellow, second grade was purple, third grade was blue, fourth grade was orange, and fifth grade was green.

As Aidan ran out of the yellow wing, which was marked, like the others, by a colored stripe along the white walls, he passed by the library, which didn't have doors, and was just an open section with shelves as its borders. Coming to a halt, the rusty-haired boy slowly peered around the corner of the bookshelf, looking at the tables and chairs that took up half of the library. Tables with computers were on the other half, with a big space in the middle for classes to sit in when they came to the library for a project.

But the section Aidan was staring at was the place where people sat when they just wanted to read books. A young girl his age sat at one of the tables. Her deep blue eyes perused the pages of the book she held in her lap, her raven black hair falling down past her shoulders, curling slightly at the ends.

She was the only one in the library, aside from the librarians, and who would question why? It was Christmas break. But... this girl was always there, reading a book.

Aidan stepped back behind the bookshelf, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. He kicked at the navy blue carpet, and then set off at a run, faster than before.

"Hi, Mrs. Spineski," he called as he entered the large kindergarten classroom. Mrs. Spineski had been his kindergarten teacher last year, and now she taught Vanille. "Where's my sister?"

"Oh, Aidan, nice timing!" A rather broad but kind-faced woman stepped out of an office at the far end of the room, a bag on her arm. "I was just about to go to Mr. Basil to give him these papers. Your sister should be in the courtyard outside. Happy holidays!"

"Thank you, happy holidays," Aidan replied as he trotted to the end of the classroom, where a door led to a closed, brick wall courtyard. He could just see his sister's snow white hair from where he stood in the doorway. She was squatting on the ground, giggling as little creatures jumped about her. "Vanille, c'mon, let's go."

"Oh, Aidan!" Vanille turned her head and smiled. Sunlight shone through the leaves of the tree she was under, and her blue eyes seemed to light up as she stood and stepped into it. "Look, aren't they cute?"

A variety of bunnies jumped around her feet, and Aidan entered the courtyard, shutting the door to the classroom behind him. "Yeah. You like bunnies, huh? But don't you like other animals?"

"Of course I do! I just like the bunnies here, because they like me, too. Chrissy's bunny is boring, though. It just sits around all day and eats, and when we let it out in her yard, it wouldn't let us pet it." The little girl bent and picked up the oddest looking bunny Aidan had ever seen. "Look, they let me hug them. Isn't this one funny?"

"...Are you sure that's a bunny?" The thing stood only on its hind legs, which were skinny, but sure to be powerful. Its tail was long and thick, and helped its balance. All in all, it looked more like a mix of a kangaroo and a rabbit than just a rabbit. It flicked its long ears as it stared at Aidan.

"Of course it is! Mrs. Spineski said it was a foreign rabbit, but it likes playing with these."

"Oh. Oh, Vanille! Wait, we gotta go! We'll keep Auntie and the others waiting!" Aidan pulled open the door and ran inside, picking up Vanille's stuff. Her backpack was much lighter than his own. Behind him, Vanille bid the rabbits farewell, before shutting the door, apologizing all the while.

"Wait for me, Aidan!" Vanille wailed as she tried to keep up with her brother, who sprinted out of the door and stood waiting for her. Once she caught up, though, he would set off again.

"Slow! What, are you mad at me?" Vanille scowled at him in reply, and for once he didn't leave her behind, instead letting her pass and walking behind her. Aidan raised an eyebrow, and then put his hands behind his head. "We'd be late if I didn't rush you." Vanille ignored him pointedly. "Ah, hi. Sorry we're late."

Serah stood at the door to the main office, chatting with the women seated at the computers and desks. Nora, Ethan, and Fang stood close by. Nora looked up and waved, her light blond hair shining in the afternoon light. Ethan grinned and ran over to drag the two over to where the kids were playing some game, and Fang smiled, not quite as shy with family around.

Serah turned her head upon hearing Aidan's voice and spotted them. "Hi, you two. It's alright, I was just talking to the ladies here." Her light pink hair swirled as she turned to face the office personnel. It was down today, and fell down her back in curls. "I'll be going now. Got to do some Christmas shopping."

"Ahhh, I just finished yesterday. Have fun, Mrs. Villiers!"

"You finished? I'm impressed! Have a good break, kids."

The children bobbed their heads politely, and then followed Serah. When they caught up, the woman turned to them. "So, where are we going today?"

"Hmmm..." The children tilted their heads to the side at the same time, thinking...

"Grocery store!" Vanille and Ethan exclaimed.

"Craft store," Aidan, Nora, and Fang said in decided unison.

Aidan and Vanille turned around and glared at each from either sides of Serah, who blinked in surprise. "...Did you two get into a fight?" She placed a hand on each of their heads.

"Vanille was just being too slow. Auntie, let's go to the craft store first."

"Aidan's so mean to me! We should go to the cooking store! I wanna bake _cookies._"

"_No, _the craft store's _closer, _right_?"_

By this time, Vanille was close to angry tears, and Aidan was resolutely looking away. Serah sighed, unlocking the car doors. "Try to make up, okay? Though, I'm not too worried, since you two usually get along fine. Unlike Ethan with everyone else."

"Mom!"

Vanille stuck out her tongue at her brother, who jabbed her in the forehead, making her squeal in rage.

Serah placed her hand on her forehead, shaking her head. Nora and Fang squeezed themselves in between Vanille and Aidan, separating the squabbling siblings. Ethan called shotgun in a loud voice and bounced into the car, grinning cheekily.

The entire ride was... "fun." Which, by family standards, was a car full of chatting, arguing people.

"Why does _Ethan _get to ride in the front?"

"I still don't see why we can't go to the grocery store, first."

"Mommy, can't I have _Kirby's Epic Yarn_ for Christmas?"

"Kids, settle down! _Ethan! Don't stand up in the car! _Put your seat belt on, Vanille."

In any case, a traditional car ride with the cousins was just the thing to settle Aidan and Vanille's anger. By the time the family piled out of the car, the atmosphere had settled down and was back to normal. It was time to start their little mission.

"Stick together, okay guys? I'm going to go pick a Christmas card." Serah flicked a finger towards a corner of the store with a large sign hanging over it that spelled out "PHOTOS."

"Okay~" Once their guardian had walked out of earshot, the five children huddled together, whispering urgently.

"Did you guys figure out a present for your parents?" Aidan muttered.

"Well, Mom's easy," Nora whispered. "She likes things we make her, and she likes jewelry. So we're going to make her bracelets, since she already got a necklace from Dad."

"We haven't figured anything out for Daddy, though," Fang murmured, tugging at a strand of red hair.

"He isn't making it easy for us," Ethan complained. "He just says that having the biiig family together is fine, and that our love is all he wants." He snorted. "It's _Christmas. _You can't just give _love."_

_"_That's the point of Christmas, Ethan," his twin reminded him gently.

"Yeah, but c'mon. You know what I mean. Anyways, how do you celebrate the spirit of giving without giving anything?"

Vanille groaned. "We don't have any idea what to give _either_ of our parents..." Aidan nodded, before adding, "I guess we'll just have to look around 'til we find something."

The kids murmured their consent before setting off in a little group. They ran through the aisles, occasionally calling out to one another when they saw something of possible interest. Baubles, cookie cutters, clay, string... The children perused the shelves overflowed with arts and crafts, meeting back up where they had started. Only the Villiers had found something to aid them in their quest for christmas presents, but only for Serah. They still hadn't found something for Snow.

The Estheims hadn't found anything at all. They really couldn't imagine their mother wearing jewelry, with the exception of formal occasions, and they weren't sure what to get their father, either.

"Guhhhh..." Vanille groaned, sitting down on the floor of the store. "We couldn't find anything..."

"Don't sit on the ground," was Aidan's only response as he waved at his aunt, who was clearly looking for them. When he brought his hand down, though, he hit a stack of merchandise in the arms of a middle-aged woman. "Ah, excuse me!" He apologized as he kneeled down to collect the various items strewn on the floor. Vanille made a reproachful noise before scooting over to help. Their cousins joined in, as well.

"Oh, what polite children! Thank you, thank you..." The lady beamed at the five of them as they handed her her collection. "And are you their mother?"

Serah had come up behind the group, pink hair swaying. "Oh, no, only three of them. The other two are my nephew and niece. I'm sorry, did they cause trouble for you?"

"No, no, just a little accident... Could've happened to anyone. They're so polite, all of them..."

Aidan, who had been listening to their conversation, picked up the last item, holding it in both hands with an absentminded look on his face. He smoothed the surface of the book-like thing, staring into space until Vanille tapped his shoulder. "Huh?" He blinked and looked at his white-haired sister.

"She's waiting for it." The woman was smiling at Aidan, patiently waiting for him to return the merchandise. Aidan flushed and held it out. Just as she took it, though, he seemed to come to a sudden realization, and stared, wide-eyed, even after the lady stood and bid them goodbye.

"What is it, Aidan...?" Fang questioned him.

"...I know what to get Dad," Aidan said, before clutching at Serah's arm excitedly. "Auntie, can you please take us to our grandpa's house? Please?"

"Aidan, Mommy would say that that's rude." Vanille chided. She "humph"-ed when Aidan shot her a look, and then added, "We can make it up to you, Auntie."

"Well, I don't mind, but what for?"

"I'll tell you on the car," Aidan impatiently pulled at his aunt's arm, before remembering both a step in his task and his manners. "Oh, and I'd like to please buy some things, if I could."

"Oh, good, you found something. But, going to Palumpolum will take awhile. Hurry and get what you need, and then we can call your mother for permission, alright?" Serah smiled, not noticing that Ethan was digging through her bag of photos, pulling out the Christmas cards, and showing it to the others. Aidan nodded and took Vanille by the hand, pulling her along behind him as he ran back down the aisles.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Christmas Day dawned as it always had in the Estheim household. Lively.<p>

Ex-Guardian Corp and soldier "Lightning" Farron, or Estheim, woke up with a very small child bouncing up and down on top of her, white hair flying about. Beside her, her equally white-haired husband groaned as another not-so-small-but-still-quite-little boy prodded him methodically.

"Vanille...!" Lightning sat up, causing the little girl to tumble off, spilling onto her father's side of the big bed.

"Good mo~rning!" The little girl sang, sitting up on top of Hope, who grunted each time Aidan's finger poked him. The boy seemed enthralled with this new sport, and was taking great interest in pestering his father.

Vanille took no notice of this going on beneath her, and continued to chatter in excitement. "Merry Christmas! It's 5 o'clock, so we'll have plenty of time to open presents! Me and Aidan made your presents together, so there are less presents, but twice the lo~ve!"

Aidan had discovered that poking Hope's face made him make higher noises, and that poking his leg made him hit lower notes. He interrupted his process of making his father grunt "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" long enough to add, "I thought of the presents, though."

His little sister stuck her tongue out at him before pushing off of the bothered Hope to stand in front of her mother. "Hurry, hurry! Get up and open the presents!"

Lightning leaned over and gave her son a gentle pat on the forehead. "Stop bugging Dad and go eat breakfast. Remember to help Vanille with the toaster."

Reluctantly, the rusty-haired boy motioned his sister over, and the two of them exited the room with Vanille chatting away. When they were gone, Lightning rested her arms on Hope's side, tucking her chin in between them. "And you still can't get up, after being poked so much."

Hope murmured something unintelligible before burrowing his face into the covers, his white hair sticking out above the edge of the comforter like the tops of a turnip. Lightning shrugged and slid out of bed, hurrying in the chill morning air to get a jacket to wear over her pajamas.

Out in the kitchen, Aidan and Vanille were already at the breakfast table. Aidan had a bowl of cereal sitting on the table in front of him while Vanille had some buttered toast. Each had a glass of milk, making it a typical breakfast for them.

"Oooh, Mommy's already up! It would be a new record if Daddy gets up soon. Then we can open presents quickly!"

"I'm up..." Hope leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom, yawning. "I wanted to sleep in on my day off..."

"Nu-uh! You don't _sleep in _on _Christmas_!" Vanille looked almost aghast at the very thought, and held her plate away when her father peered at the toast. "Daddy, it's time to open presents!"

"Huh? Can't I eat first?"

"I'll give you my toast, but you have to eat next to the Christmas tree." Vanille set the plate in her father's hands before pulling him away to the living room. As if paired by similar hair colors, Lightning and Aidan followed behind them, Aidan silently handing a cup of hot chocolate to his mother.

The Christmas tree sat in a corner of the living room, mainly because it was a bother if it blocked the television. The colorful lights turned on at night, but were off during the daytime. Nevertheless, the tree was festive with its baubles and ornaments. Christmas cards from Serah, the members of NORA, and other friends lined the mantle of the fireplace, and two stockings hung from hooks, their bottoms filled with little gifts from Santa. The presents beneath the tree were arranged into little piles according to the receiver. Two for Lightning, two for Hope, three for Vanille, and three for Aidan.

"So, are you guys going to check your stockings first?" Hope munched on a piece of toast, watching Vanille sift through the presents.

"Nope, not this year!" Vanille stood up and held out two gifts, one to her father, and one to her mother. "You guys start first!"

"Us?" Hope set down the plate of toast, surprised, while Lightning took the presents, handing him his present.

"What's the special occasion?"

"Nothing," Aidan replied. "We just want you two to see the presents we gave you."

There was a tearing of wrapping paper, and Lightning held in her hand a medium-sized box. Inside, there were four more little boxes. All of them had similar objects within. They were four small, clear, glass orbs. Christmas ornaments. Aidan and Vanille had bought them at the craft store, and then managed to obtain pictures, which they then downsized with Serah's help. Two pictures glued back-to-back hung inside each globe.

One had two pictures of Lightning's childhood. One showed a family photo in front of a nice vacation scenery, and the second, on the back of the first one, had a picture of a young Lightning, regularly called Claire at the time, and an even younger Serah.

The second one was of Lightning in the army. One with Amodar, and the second with a few fellow soldiers.

The third had pictures of Lightning, Hope, Sazh, Dajh, Snow, and Serah. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang.

The fourth globe had a wedding picture. Lightning stood, radiant even in a photograph, her flowing white dress blowing in an unseen wind. Hope stood nearby in his black suit, white hair fluffed up. His grin and her rare smile plainly showed their matching happiness. The back of it was a very recent picture; one of Lightning, Hope, Vanille, and Aidan last Thanksgiving.

A smile crossed Lightning's face and she laughed softly, kneeling to embrace her children. Hope admired the ornaments before opening his own present.

It was a scrapbook. Aidan had gotten the idea when he picked up a scrapbook for the woman he crashed into at the store. The very front pages had pictures of a very young Hope, with a girl and a boy, his childhood friends. The further on the pages went, the further down Hope's life the pictures went. Hope's mother, father, his high school friends, Sazh, Dajh, Lightning...

He had sat down upon the couch to look at all the pictures, and now looked up to see that his family was around him, also looking at the pictures. Aidan's green eyes locked with his father's. "Dad. Do you like it?"

Hope smiled and put his arm around his son's neck, bringing him close. Vanille put the album on the table, sitting herself on Hope's lap, her special sitting spot. "Of course I like it. This is great, you two... I couldn't ask for more."

"Yay~! Mission accomplished!" Vanille giggled, then nearly fell off her father's lap when the phone rang.

Lightning quickly picked it up, bringing the receiver to her ear. "Hello? Oh, Serah. Mm. Merry Christmas to you, too. Yes, 7 o'clock... What? No, we're not busy." She covered the phone and looked at the others. "Serah wants everyone to get together earlier, before dinner at her house."

"So, will we go to their house earlier?"

"That seems to be the plan. We'll also have more time to take Christmas pictures."

There were instant complaints from the children, but Lightning waved them away as she agreed with her sister. "Sure, we'll be there. Four o'clock, huh? Yeah, see you. Don't complain," She said to her children as she set the phone back in its cradle. "You'll have more time to play with the others."

"Besides," Hope added, "it wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas pictures." He laughed as the children maintained their grumpy expressions. "C'mon. How about you open your own presents now?"

The children were immediately cheered, and set to opening their presents. Lightning sat herself down on the cushion beside Hope. "What'd you get Aidan?" She murmured, so the children wouldn't overhear.

"_Golden Sun_. He'll like it, since he's pretty into video games."

"As long as he isn't into those football games, like Ethan."

"Well, those aren't too bad. We'll see them playing it later tonight, though."

"I guess. It isn't a holiday without meeting up with the family." Lightning sighed, leaning back in the couch.

Hope grinned and leaned over to rest his head on Lightning's shoulder, as if he was still shorter than her. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

><p><strong>AND AFTER DISAPPEARING FOR GOODNESS KNOWS HOW LONG, I AM OFF TO WORK ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF INNER CONFLICTS. -clicks heels- Bye bye.<strong>


End file.
